Ol\,Unhli;ii,U\l'U, •■!,]■ 





Book 






/ 



[Document 87 — 1916. 



REPORT 

OF 

A STUDY OF CERTAIN PHASES OF 
THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 



BOSTON, MASS. ^ 

MADE TINDER THE AUSPICES OF THE BOSTON 
FINANCE COMMISSION. 

f 




CITY OF BOSTON 

PRINTING DEPARTMENT 

1916 






^^V 

^v 



City of Boston, 
In City Council, July 6, 1916. 

Ordered, That the City Clerk be authorized to have 
printed an edition of 1,000 copies of the report made to 
the Finance Commission by Dr. James H. Van Sickle on 
the School Department, the expense of the same to be 
charged to the appropriation for city documents. 

Passed. Approved by the Mayor July 7, 1916. - 

Attest : 

W. J. Doyle, 

Assistant City Clerk. 

D* of D. 
JAi: 9 1917 



K 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Page 

Letter to the Finance Commission 1-5 

Scope of the Study 1-^ 

Method of the Study 3-5 

Summary of Conclusions 6-14 

Chapter I. — The Reorganization of the Administration of 

Schools 15-27 

The present situation 15 

The Board of Superintendents 21 

The Business Agent 22 

The Secretary . 23 

The Schoolhouse Custodian 24 

The Board of Apportionment ....... 24 

The Salary Board 25 

Chapter II. — Reorganization of District Supervision . . 27-34 

Present maximum cost of supervision 33 

Proposed maximum cost of supervision 33 

Chapter III. — The High School Situation 34^47 

High school attendance and costs 34 

The junior high school 36 

The high school quota of teachers 39 

High school organization 40 

Salaries and supply of teachers 43 

The secondary curriculum 46 

Chapter IV. — Special Departments 48-71 

Suggested grouping 48 

Department of Practice and Training 50 

Promotion and research 50 

Physical weKare 51 

a. Medical inspection — doctors and nurses . . . 51 

b. Classes for the deaf 53 

c. Classes for children with speech defects ... 54 

d. Open-air classes . - 54 

e. Classes for the semi-blind 56 

/. Physical training and recreation 56 

g. Athletics 56 

h. Playgrounds 67 

i. Special classes — subnormal children .... 57 

Industrial arts and household arts 60 

Evem'ng and voluntary continuation schools .... 64 

Community centers 66 

Music 68 

Kindergartens 69 

Chapter V. — • Vocational Education 72-125 

Prevocational department 73 

Compulsory continuation schools 81 

Trade School for Girls 99 

Industrial School for Boys 107 

Part time cooperative course 116 

Vocational guidance 122 

ill 



IV 



City Document No. 87. 



„ (/ Page 

Chapter VI. — Vocational Needs op Boston Csildren . 126-143 

Total number of males ten years of age and over engaged in 
gainful occupations in Boston, and the number per 1,000 
so engaged in Boston, in Massachusetts, in the New 
England States, in all New England cities, in all cities . 128 

Total number of females ten years of age and over engaged in 
gainful occupations in Boston, and the number per 1,000 
so engaged in Boston, in Massachusetts, in the New Eng- 
land States, in all New England cities, in all cities . . 129 

Total number of males ten years of age and over engaged in 
each specified gainful occupation in Boston, and the number 
per 1,000 so engaged 130 

Number of pupils (male and female) who dropped out of school 
(discharged to work and for any other reason) during the 
scholastic year 1914-15, and their approximate distribu- 
tion by sexes 133 

Number of boys leaving school during 1914-15 who had received 
some form of vocational training or who had taken no 
vocational courses 135 

Excess or deficiency of the supply required to fill the ranks of 

educational life 135 

Total number of females ten years of age and over engaged in 
each specified gainful occupation in Boston, and the number 
per 1,000 so engaged 137 

Approximate numbers of girls who had taken specified voca- 
tional courses before leaving school during 1914-15 and 
those who had taken no such course 140 

Excess and deficiency of the supply required to fill the ranks of 

occupational life 140 

Chapter VII. — ■ Expenditures for School Purposes in Boston 
Compared with Expenditures in Other Large 

American Cities 144-184 

List of tables vi 

vii 
144 
144 
147 
149 
152 
154 
155 
157 
158 
161 
170 
170 
173 
178 
179 

180 
182 



List of diagrams 

Cities compared 

Sources of statistics . 

Proportion of municipal expenditures devoted to schools 

Expenditure per inhabitant 

Expenditure per $1,000 of taxable wealth 
Expenditure per pupil in average daily attendance . 

New buildings and other improvements . 

Operation and maintenance 

Proportion of expenditures devoted to special activities 
Itemized expenditures for operation and maintenance 
Salaries of teachers per pupil in average daily attendance 

Size of classes 

Salaries per teacher . 

Salaries of principals 

Expenditure for fuel 

Expenditures classified according to function — administration 

instruction, care of school plant . 
Proportion of children in private schools 



Chapter VIII. — The Construction of School Buildings 

Cost per pupil 

Cost per class room 

Cost per cubic foot 

Administration of schoolhouse construction 
Cost of school buildings in Boston 



185-213 
185 
185 
185 
186 
187 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



Page 

Cost data for Cleveland, Detroit, Newark and St. Louis . . 192 

Comparative cost in the five cities 200 

The rank of cities in schoolhouse cost 202 

School costs and school values 203 

Modernization of old buildings 205 

Reports on work accomplished 207 

The Schoolhouse Commission not a civic or educational necessity, 210 



Chapter IX. — Subsidiary Matters 
Appendix 



212-214 
215-219 



vi City Document No. 87. 

LIST OF TABLES. 



„/ 



Taule Page 

1. Proportion of total governmental cost payments devoted to 

school pvu'poses in Boston and in 21 other cities. 1913 . 147 

2. Expenditure per inhabitant for operation and maintenance of 

schools in Boston and in 20 other cities. 1914 . . . 150 

3. Expenditm-e per §1,000 of wealth for operation and mainte- 

nance of schools in Boston and in 20 other cities. 1914. 152 

4. Expenditm-e for operation and maintenance of scliools and 

outlay for improvenaent of school plant per child in average 
daily attendance in Boston and in 20 other cities . 155 

5. Proportion of total expenditure for instruction and for operation 

and maintenance of plant which is used for elementary and 
secondary schools in Boston and in 9 other cities. 19i2 . 159 

6. Pupils in average daily attendance in daj^ schools and classified 

expenditure for schools in Boston and in 20 other cities. 

1914 163 

7. Classified expenditm-es per child in average daily attendance 

for Boston and for 20 other cities. 1914 .... 165 

8. Rank of Boston and 20 other cities in classified expenditm-es 

for school pm-poses per cliild in average dailj' attendance. 

1914 166 

9. Average size of classes in elementary schools and kindergartens 

in Boston and in 20 other cities. 1914 . . . 170 

10. Average size of classes in secondary schools in Boston and in 20 

other cities. 1914 172 

11. Annual salaries of teachers in Boston and in 14 other cities . 174 

12. Distribution of annual salaries of regular teachers in elementary 

schools in Boston and in 14 other cities 176 

13. Distribution of annual salaries of regular teachers in secondarj^ 

schools in Boston and in 14 other cities .... 177 

14. Distribution of annual salaries of principals in elementary 

schools in Boston and in 14 other cities .... 179 

15. Expenditm-e per child in average daily attendance for adminis- 

tration, for instruction, and for care of school plant in 
Boston and in 20 other cities. 1914 . . . . . 181 

16. Ratio of pupils in private schools to pupils enrolled in pubhc 

day schools for Boston and for 15 other cities. 1914 . 183 



Report on Boston Public Schools. vii 



LIST of diagrams. 



DiAQHAM Page 

1. Proportion of total governmental cost payments devoted to 

school purposes in Boston and in 21 other cities . . 148 

2. Expenditure per inhabitant for operation and maintenance of 

schools in Boston and in 20 other cities .... 151 

3. Expenditm-e per $1,000 of wealth for operation and maintenance 

of schools in Boston and in 20 other cities . . . . 153 

4. Expenditure for operation and maintenance of schools per 

child in average daily attendance for Boston and for 20 
other cities 156 

5. Outlay for improvement of school plant per child in average 

daily attendance for Boston and for 20 other cities . 156 

6. Rank of Boston in a gi-oup of 21 cities in expenditure for opera- 

tion and maintenance of schools per inhabitant, per $1,000 
of taxable wealth, and per child in average daily attend- 
ance 158 

7. Boston's expenditures per child in average daily attendance for 

nine principal items of operation and maintenance com- 
pared with average expenditures for a group of 21 cities . 167 

8. Pupils in average daily attendance in elementary schools and 

Ivindergartens per teacher employed for Boston and for 20 
other cities 171 

9. Pupils in average daily attendance in secondary schools per 

teacher employed for Boston and for 20 other cities . . 173 

10. Median annual salaries of teachers in elementary schools for 

Boston and for 14 other cities 175 

11. Median annual salaries of teachers in secondary schools for 

Boston and for 14 other cities 175 

12. Rank of Boston in a group of 21 cities in expenditure per child 

in average daily attendance for administration, instruc- 
tion, and care of school plant 182 



LETTER TO THE BOSTON FINANCE 
COMMISSION. 



Springfield, Mass., January 22, 1916. 

The Boston Finance Commission: 

Gentlemen, — I have the honor to present herewith a 
report of a study of certain phases of the pubhc school 
system of Boston having to do chiefly with organization 
and costs. The scope of the study is indicated by the 
following outline submitted by you: 

Scope of the Study. 

1. Cost of administration of the school system, with 
especial emphasis on such features as executive officers, 
viz., Superintendent and his assistants; the Secretary of 
the School Committee and his assistants; the Business 
Agent and his assistants ; the assistant superintendents ; 
the directors and supervisors of special subjects; the 
value of each and opportunities for coordinating their 
work and eliminating any extravagant and unnecessary 
features. 

2. High and grammar school districts; present 
arrangement of duties of principals and opportunities for 
economy by enlargement of jurisdiction and districts. 

3. The following questions : 

a. The proper number of pupils to a teacher. 

b. The lengthening of the 'school year. 

c. The holding of alternate sessions with alter- 
nate teacher every day, so as to economize school 
buildings and school equipment. 

d. The requiring kindergarten teachers to work 
at both morning and afternoon sessions for their 
classes, instead of the present arrangement of one 
teacher to each session in certain districts. 

4. The elimination of extra pay to teachers for service 
in vacation schools and other offices with extra pay for 
persons employed on annual salaries. 

5. The advisability of reducing the common school 
course from eight to seven years. 



2 City Document No. 87. 

6. The value of new schools and studies recently 
established by the School Committee,* "namely, pre voca- 
tional schools, continuation schools, industrial schools, 
courses of study in evening work under the titles of 
''Extended Use of School Buildings" and "Evening 
Centers," and summer schools, both high and elementary. 

7. Method of paying salaries to teachers; advisability 
of paying by check instead of in cash. 

8. Whether or not the system of furnishing additional 
school accommodations is being carefully and economi- 
cally planned; e. g., is the kind of construction advisable, 
and are the new accommodations excessive or inadequate. 

It would have been impossible for me to undertake the 
study had I not been able to secure the cooperation of a 
group of men expert in their several fields, who cared 
far more for the professional aspects of the service they 
could render than for any remuneration they might 
receive. I therefore organized a committee for the study 
and divided the work among its members in accordance 
with the predominant interest of each. 

The Committee. 

James H. Van Sickle, Superintendent of Schools 

Springfield, Mass. 

Director of the Study and Chairman of the Committee. 
George Drayton Strayer, Professor of Educational 

Administration, Teachers College, Columbia Uni- 
versity, New York. 

Administrative Offices and Supervision Districts. 
Lewis H. Carris, Assistant Commissioner of Education, 

State of New Jersey, and 
Egbert E. MacNary, Supervisor of Manual Training 

and Principal of the Vocational School, Springfield, 

Mass. 

Pre- vocational and Vocational Features of the Schools, 
Edwin Hebden, Statistican, Baltimore, Md. 

Vocational Needs of Boston Children. 
Leonard P. Ayres, Director, Division of Education. 

Russell Sage Foundation, New York City. 

The Construction of School Buildings. 
Earle Clark, Statistician, Russell Sage Foundation, 

New York City. 

General Study of Costs. 

* From 1911. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 3 

Don C. Bliss, Superintendent of Schools, Montclair, 
. N. J. 
The Organization of Supervision and the Work of 
Special Classes. 
Henry S. West, Professor of Secondary Education, 
University of Cincinnati, Ohio. 
The High School Situation. 

Method of the Study. 

It was not convenient for all members of the committee 
to be in Boston at the same time. There was a certain 
advantage in this, for since their observations on the 
ground were distributed over a period of three months, 
the director found it possible to take up with each member 
in turn the particular phase of the study allotted to 
him. In this way only, within the time available, 
could he gain the necessary insight into each of the 
complex problems involved which would enable him to 
present a unified report. 

Though the director holds himself individually respon- 
sible for each and every part of what is here presented, 
the report represents the combined judgment of all who 
participated in the study. Though a particular phase 
of the work was assigned to each member of the com- 
mittee, there were frequent consultations as the work 
progressed, and toward the close a formal conference 
was held in New York, lasting two days, at which every 
item here presented was fully discussed. 

Conferences were held with the Superintendent and 
with the assistant superintendents, both individually and 
as a board; with the Secretary, the Business Agent, the 
Schoolhouse Custodian, heads of special departments, 
and with representatives of the teachers' organizations. 

Three conferences were held with the School Com- 
mitte, one at their rooms at Mason street, and two in 
joint session with the Finance Commission at the com- 
mission's headquarters. All the resources of the School 
Department were placed at our disposal. Statistics 
were promptly gathered and inquiries cheerfully and 
courteously answered. 

Data for the comparisons made in the chapter on the 
Construction of School Buildings were found in the 
published reports of the Schoolhouse Commission, in the 
law under which the commission operates, in the Rules 
and Regulations of the School Committee and in the 



4 City Document No. 87. 

course of visits of inspection to typical school buildings 
of the city. Additional data, which, early in the study, 
the commission was asked to furnish (but at first refused 
to give), were received subsequent to the completion of 
the report. 

A more extended discussion of the activities of the 
department might have been given had these additional 
data been made up in time for our use. The delay is 
not of great consequence, however, as the committee, 
after such examination as it has been possible to make, 
discovers nothing in the additional material tending to 
change its announced conclusions. 

The cooperation which we received from the School 
Committee and its officers and employees from the begin- 
ning to the end of the study was of the most satisfactory 
character. 

If any benefit accrues to the Boston school system 
from our study, it will be due in no small measure to the 
free interchange of opinion with the School Committee 
as the study proceeded and the full discussion of all 
proposals while these proposals were still tentative in 
form. The report contains no surprises. Its contents, 
except as to details of phrasing, are known to the School 
Committee in advance of publication and, in the main, 
have their approval. 

What follows does not purport to be a complete survey 
of the school system of Boston. Conclusions of hixdted 
range are presented in response to specific inquiries set 
forth above. A complete survey of the school system 
would require careful and prolonged consideration of 
many topics not included in this study, among which 
are: 

1. The relation of the courses of study to individual 
differences existing among children and to modern social 
demands. 

2. The quahty of teaching. 

3. The achievements of pupils. 

4. The adequacy of present provision for: 

Physical welfare of children. 
Pre-vocational and vocational training. 
Special classes. 
Playgrounds. 

5. The possibihty of improving the present system of 
recording and reporting school facts, including the con- 
sideration of the question of clerks in elementary and in 
high schools. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 5 

6. An industrial-commercial survey. 

7. The classification of children in the school system, 
including a study of retardation, elimination, and 
progress of children, together with a consideration of 
promotion rates, failures by studies, and the like. 

8. A study of the distribution of expenditures 
among the several units of the school system for the 
sake of discovering any further possibility of saving with- 
out a decrease in the efficiency of the school system. 

9. An investigation of the adequacy of the present 
school plant, with special reference to the effect of such 
accommodations or equipment upon the health and 
achievement of school children. 

10. An inquiry concerning teachers, including the 
recruiting of the corps, their salaries, tenure, improve- 
ment in service, and the like. 

11. A study of the present efficiency of general and 
special supervision, with particular reference to the 
contribution made by the supervisory corps to the 
growth and development of teachers. 

12. The care of school buildings, including the 
qualifications, compensation and control of janitors. 

13. Apparatus and materials for the purposes of 
training and instruction (text-books, laboratories, work- 
shops, libraries, schoolroom decorations, etc.). 

14. The legal basis of the school system. The rela- 
tion of the School Department to other departments of 
the City Government and to the State Legislature. 

Such are some of the large questions not included 
in this study. The merest glance at the list must make 
it evident that the following pages are not offered as a 
survey of the Boston school system. A careful study 
of certain phases of the system has been undertaken, 
based on specific questions, and the best answers which 
the committee could make are here given. 

Respectfully submitted, 

James H. Van Sickle. 



City Document No. 87. 

L 

SUMMARY. 



The Administration of the Schools. 

1. The schools of Boston are administered through 
several executive offices, each of which is directly respon- 
sible to the School Committee and independent in large 
degree of each other. There is no responsible executive 
head of the school system. 

2. In order to carry out most efficiently and economi- 
cally the policies which they determine, a school com- 
mittee must, as do all other lay boards, w^hether in 
charge of public or private business, delegate to a 
responsible executive that authority which can be 
exercised best only by a professional expert who is able 
to study the whole problem and to coordinate the acti\i- 
ties of all employees. The delegation of this authority 
to the Superintendent of Schools enables them to fix this 
responsibility. 

3. There is, in the opinion of the committee, no 
possibility of a maximum of efficiency of economy in the 
conduct of a school system in which many executive 
heads work more or less at cross purposes. With the 
reorganization that is suggested, there becomes possible 
the achievement of a degree of efficiency commonly 
enjoyed by well managed public and private business. 

Supervision Districts. 

1. There appears to be no relationship between the 
number of pupils in average daily attendance and the 
number of masters employed. Districts occupying the 
same geographical area should be consolidated and 
certain very small districts should be combined. 

2. A similar discrepancy'- is found with regard to the 
number of submasters employed. IMoreover, the func- 
tion of the submaster in the system is less responsible 
than the very considerable salary he receives would lead 
one to expect. In practice he is the teacher of a seventh 
or eighth grade and has certain extra class duties 
assigned. 

3. The scheme of supervision here proposed places in 



Repokt on Boston Public Schools. 7 

supervisory charge of all districts having less than 1,000 
children in average daily attendance a submaster who 
has had experience under the direction of a master in 
one of the larger districts; in all districts having more 
than 1,000 children in average daily attendance, a master. 
When the number of children in average daily attendance 
in a district exceeds 1,500, the master is to be assisted by 
a submaster,who is to devote all of his time to supervision ; 
and whenever this number exceeds 3,000, the master is 
to be assisted by two such submasters. 

4. The extra class activities now performed by sub- 
masters are to be provided for by designating certain 
upper grade teachers as junior masters, and by continu- 
ing the office of first assistant in charge and master's 
assistant. 

5. It is proposed to add to the present supervisory 
corps five primary supervisors for the sake of furnishing a 
type of leadership for the lower grades and kindergartens 
which is not already provided by district supervision. 

6. The complete reorganization here suggested pro- 
vides a much more adequate plan of supervision than is 
now in operation and would, if put into effect immedi- 
ately, save more than $45,000 annually. Instead, how- 
ever, of putting this scheme into full operation at once, 
it seems preferable to establish the policy and to deter- 
mine future appointments upon the basis indicated. 

The High School Situation. 

1. The movement toward increasing the number of 
pupils per teacher which has been in operation since 1912 
should not be permitted to go any further, for it must 
inevitably lower the efficiency of secondary school 
instruction. 

2. We recommend the general organization of junior 
high schools not only to extend the advantages of this 
type of school to all parts of the city, but also to reduce 
school costs. Until the junior high school plan can be 
put into full operation, we suggest the possibility of 
securing relief in certain greatly overcrowded high 
schools through the adoption of a lengthened time 
schedule. 

3. The headship of a department should involve 
functions of a^ distinctly executive and supervisory 
character; only persons capable of rendering this sort 
of assistance to the head master should be made heads 



8 City Document No. 87. 

of departments ; and such headships should- lapse by 
rule whenever they become unnecessary; either from the 
shrinkage of instruction in a given department or from 
other circumstances. 

4. In small high schools the range of elective studies 
should be restricted and there should be few, if any, 
heads of departments except titular heads. In all high 
schools substitute choice of definitely formulated 
curricula instead of choice from a long list of electives. 

Special Departments. 

1. The fifteen departments maj'", to advantage, be 
regrouped into ten. 

2. The work of the nurse should be emphasized 
rather than that of the physician. Two nurses to one 
doctor is a satisfactorj^ ratio. 

3. Every effort should be made to extend the service 
of the evening schools and the voluntary continuation 
schools. 

4. We commend the self-supporting basis of admin- 
istering groups in community centers. 

5. The time allowance for manual training and 
cooking might be reduced to make possible three classes 
daily for a teacher instead of two. The gain in teacher 
time may be applied to good advantage elsewhere. 

6. Allow pupils in subnormal classes to sell shop 
products and after deducting cost of materials pay 
balance to the pupils. 

7. Standardize kindergarten rooms and utilize the 
advice of the department in planning rooms in new 
buildings and remodeling old buildings. Eliminate the 
general toilet for kindergarten children. 

8. Transfer special kindergarten assistants to regular 
positions and allow unpaid practice teachers to serve in 
these positions. Through the saving thus accomplished 
establish kindergartens for four-year old children in 
foreign and congested districts. 

9. Each kindergarten class should have two sessions, 
recreation being emphasized in the afternoon session 
and systematic home visitation by the teachers required. 

Vocational Education. 

1. Pre-Vocational Departments, 
a. These departments should be reorganized as a part 
of the junior high schools in the seventh, eighth and 
ninth years. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 9 

b. These courses should be elective on the same basis 
as the other courses in the junior high school. 

c. Instruction should be provided in a sufficient 
number of activities to afford ''try-out" experiences to 
the pupils. 

d. Adolescent mental defectives should be cared for 
in special pre-vocational classes and given a large propor- 
tion of time for shop work. 

2. Compulsory Continuation Schools. 
This work should be continued and given sufficient 
quarters to meet the needs of the classes. 

3. Trade School for Girls. 
A further study should be made of factory employ- 
ment for women, and branches of the school should be 
established to meet local needs. 

4. Industrial School for Boys. 
The work should be continued and the plans for 
expanding the school should be carried out. Efforts 
should be made to decrease the per capita cost by increas- 
ing the output of product for which the school will be 
credited. 

5. Part-Time Cooperative Course in the Hyde Park 
High School. 
The school should be equipped with shops representing 
the metal-working trades, and a staff of special teachers 
should be employed. The industrial experiences of the 
boys in the local shops should be organized. If these 
steps are taken, the plan should be tried in other high 
schools where the necessary cooperation can be secured 
on the part of employers in industrial plants. 

6. Vocational Guidance. 
Vocational guidance should be continued. A com- 
prehensive study of the vocations should be made. 

Vocational Needs of Boston Children. 

1. The schools of Boston are already providing a 
large number of boys and girls with vocational education 
that will enable them to enter the occupations found in 
their own city and in other cities. 

2. It is evident that the number of children receiving 
training for the manufacturing and mechanical industries 



10 



City Document No. 87. 



is far below the number of those who will- enter this 
class of employment. 

3. On the other hand, the number taking the courses 
pointing toward professional life is in excess of the actual 
number who will find their life work in the professions. 

4. There is an undoubted deficiency in the number 
adequately prepared for domestic and personal service, 
whether paid or unpaid. 

General Study of Costs. 
A comparison of the amounts spent for school purposes 
by a number of different cities affords a useful standard 
by which to measure the practice of an individual city. 
Boston's expenditure for schools has been compared 
with the expenditures of other American cities of more 
than 250,000 inhabitants. The results of the study are 
summarized in the following table: 



Subject of Comparison. 


Number of 

Cities 
Compared. 


Boston's 
Rank. 


Proportion of total municipal expenditure devoted 

to schools. 
Expenditure per inhabitant for operation and 

maintenance of schools. 
Expenditure per $1,000 of wealth for operation 

and maintenance of schools. 
Expenditure per pupil in average daily attendance 

for: 

Permanent improvement of school plant 

Operation and maintenance of schools 


22 
21 
21 

21 
21 

21 
21 
21 
20 
20 
20 

21 
21 
19 

21 
21 
21 

21 
21 

15 
15 
15 


17 

2 

12 

14 
4 


Items of school operation and maintenance: 
Office of board and other business offices .... 
Superintendent's office 


5 

2 


Salaries and expenses of supervisors 


5 


Salaries and expenses of principals 


11 


Salaries of teachers 


4 


Stationery, supplies and other instruction 
expenses. 

Wages of janitors and other employees 

Average annual e.xpenditure for fuel 

Maintenance — repairs, replacement of equip- 
ment, etc. 
Groups under school operation and mainte- 
nance : 

Administration 


8 

6 

10 

4 

5 


Instruction 


4 


Care of school plant 


4 


Teachers per 1,000 pupils in: 

Elementary schools 


18 


Secondary'' schools 


20 


Median salaries of teachers in : 

Elementary schools 


2 


Secondary schools 


4 


Median salaries of principals in elementary 
schools. 


1 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 11 

In comparing the expenditures of different cities it is 
necessary to take into account differences in resources 
and in educational responsibilities. This has been done 
by relating the amount spent for schools to total munic- 
ipal disbursements, to population, to wealth, and to the 
number of pupils in average daily attendance. As 
expenditure per pupil is believed to constitute, on the 
whole, the best standard for judgment, the more detailed 
comparisons are made only on this basis. 

Boston's relative position in the group of cities, as 
shown by the statistics, may be summarized as follows : 

1. In the proportion of total municipal expenditures 
devoted to the public schools, Boston stands low. Accord- 
ing to prevailing standards, the schools are receiving 
somewhat less than their share of the money that is being 
spent by the city. 

2. Only one city spends more per inhabitant than 
Boston for the operation and maintenance of schools. 

3. On the other hand, Boston's expenditure per unit 
of wealth for the operation and maintenance of schools 
is relatively low. 

4. In expenditure for the permanent improvement 
of the school plant per pupil in average daily attendance 
Boston ranks fourteenth among the 21 cities. 

5. Boston's expenditure per pupil for the operation 
and maintenance of schools is exceeded in but three 
cities of the 21. 

6. Comparative figures have been given for nine of 
the more important items of operation and maintenance. 
For all but two of the purposes represented by these 
items, Boston's expenditures per pupil are relatively 
high. In expenditure for salaries and expenses of 
principals and for fuel Boston stands, according to the 
figures of the reports of the United States Commissioner 
of Education, about mid-way in the list of cities. 

7. In all the cities compared, teachers' salaries con- 
stitute the largest single item of disbursement. Boston 
ranks fourth among 21 cities in the amount spent for 
this purpose. It is evident that a relatively large 
expenditure for salaries per unit of attendance may be 
due to small classes, to high salaries per teacher, or to a 
combination of these two causes. 

8. It appears from the statistics that, in the number 
of teachers per 1,000 pupils, both in elementary schools 
and in secondary schools, Boston stands very low in the 
list of cities — in other words, both in elementary 
schools and in secondary schools the classes are abnor- 



12 City Document No. 87. 

mally large. This, clearly, is a condition which makes 
for low expenditure per pupil for teachers' salaries, 
rather than for the high expenditure shown by the 
comparisons. 

9. The explanation of Boston's rank with respect to 
expenditure for teachers' salaries is found b}' comparing 
salaries per teacher. Among 15 cities for which data 
are available, Boston stands second in median salaries 
of teachers in elementary schools and fourth in median 
salaries of teachers in secondary schools. 

10. While the tables seem to show that Boston's 
expenditure for salaries and expenses of principals is 
relatively small, this apparent result is due to a somewhat 
unusual distribution of functions in the Boston schools. 
If certain members of the Boston staff who, in many 
cities, would be termed principals were so classed by the 
Boston authorities, Boston's ranking in expenditure for 
this item would be much higher than it is. In median 
individual salaries of persons reported as elementary 
school principals Boston leads all the cities. 

11. Expenditures per unit of attendance for operation 
and maintenance have been grouped, according to 
function, under three heads: administration, instruction, 
and care of school plant. Boston stands fifth in the 
group of cities in expenditure for administration and 
fourth both in expenditure for instruction and in expendi- 
ture for physical care. 

Considered in their general bearings, the comparative 
statistics may fairly be interpreted as showing that, as 
related to the educational responsibilities of the city, 
Boston's expenditures for school purposes are liberal. 
Boston is, however, an exceptionally wealthy city, and 
for this reason the expenditures for schools do not 
draw heavily on the resources of the community. For 
permanent improvements in the school plant Boston has 
in recent years been spending rather less, relatively speak- 
ing, than for operation and maintenance. An examina- 
tion in detail of disbursements for the different purposes 
of operation and maintenance discloses a well planned 
distribution of expenditures — no one class of activity 
seeijis to be either unduly subordinated to others or 
unduly favored. 

The Constkuction of School Buildings. 
1. There are three common units for comparing the 
cost of school buildings. These are the cost per pupil, 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 13 

the cost per class room and the cost per cubic foot. 
Satisfactory comparisons should take into account all 
these units and, in addition, consider the special 
accommodations provided. 

2. The administration of schoolhouse construction 
is arranged for in some cities by employing private 
architects to prepare plans for each new building. In 
other cities contracts are made with reliable firms of 
competent architects to undertake schoolhouse con- 
struction over a term of years. The most satisfactory 
arrangement is for the city to employ a schoolhouse 
architect, together with engineers, draughtsmen and 
inspectors, as part of the permanent staff of the depart- 
ment of education. 

3. The City of Boston employs no one of these 
methods, but instead has an independent schoolhouse 
commission, appointed by the Mayor, to take charge of 
repairs and replacements in old buildings and to pur- 
chase sites and construct all new buildings. 

4. A comparison has been made of the costs of nine 
fireproof and nonfireproof elementary school buildings 
in Boston and of groups of fireproof elementary school 
buildings of recent construction, numbering seven in 
St. Louis, eleven in Cleveland, nine in Newark, and 
ten in Detroit. For all these buildings cost data have 
been secured on a uniform basis. 

5. The comparisons show that costs per class room 
range from less than $5,000 in Detroit to more than 
$9,000 in St. Louis, with Boston rooms costing more 
than $7,100 in nonfireproof and nearly $7,900 in fire- 
proof buildings. 

6. In the matter of cost per cubic foot the Boston 
buildings are the most expensive of all those compared. 

7. In the average cost per pupil the Boston fireproof 
buildings are the most expensive of all, while the non- 
fireproof ones are more expensive than the fireproof ones 
in Detroit, Newark and Cleveland. 

8. The Boston fireproof buildings provide a smaller 
proportion of special rooms than do those in St. Louis, 
Cleveland and Detroit. 

9. Computations showing the average cost per room, 
including class rooms and special rooms, show that the 
Boston buildings are the most expensive of all. 

10. The expenses of plans, specifications and inspec- 
tion are far greater in Boston than in any of the other 
cities. 



14 City Document No. 87. 

1 1 . Taking all factors into consideration it' appears 
that Boston has been spending more for second-class, 
nonfireproof buildings than Cleveland, Detroit and 
Newark have been spending for first-class, fireproof 
buildings. 

12. The committee is convinced that the type of 
building offered by the Schoolhouse Department as a 
type of the new fireproof buildings to be erected in 
Boston falls far short of providing satisfactory educa- 
tional accommodations of a truly modern sort. 

13. Boston is faced by an unusually difficult problem 
in the matter of modernizing its old school buildings, of 
which it has a very large number. The committee has 
been unable to find that the Schoolhouse Commission is 
proceeding on any adequate, continuing policy in this 
matter. 

14. The committee finds the published reports of 
the Schoolhouse Department inadequate and inaccurate. 

15. The committee finds that the figures published 
by the Schoolhouse Department and purporting to show 
per capita costs of Boston school buildings must be 
increased by nearly one third in order to furnish figures 
comparable with those showing corresponding costs in 
other cities. 

16. The committee is unanimously of the opinion 
that its estimates of the actual costs of the Boston 
school buildings should not be considered too high unless 
proved so by a thorough audit of the books of the 
Schoolhouse Department. 

17. The committee finds that the facts reviewed 
demonstrate that Boston's experiment in erecting school 
buildings through the agency of the independent School- 
house Department has not proved successful. It holds 
that economical and satisfactory results in this work 
will not be secured until control of these operations is 
vested in the educational authorities, as it is in other 
progressive cities. The school officials who are charged 
with the duty of educating the children are the ones 
who should decide what educational accommodations 
shall be provided in the buildings, where they shall be 
located, how many and wliat rooms they shall contain, 
and what equipment shall be installed. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 15 



CHAPTER I. — THE REOEGANIZATION OF THE 
AD^IINISTRATION OF SCHOOLS. 



The Present Situation. 

The schools of Boston are, in so far as the committee 
has been able to determine, administered through 
several executive offices, each of which is directly 
responsible to the School Committee, and independent 
in large degree of each other. In the study which has 
been made of this problem, information was secured, 
first, from a study of the proposed revision of the rules 
of the School Committee; second, from reports made 
by the Superintendent, Assistant Superintendents, 
Business Agent, Secretary and Schoolhouse Custodian, 
in which each was asked to indicate as concretely as 
possible the nature of the activity of his office, to justify 
any increase in cost occurring during the past five years, 
to indicate the relationship of his office to the other 
executive offices of the School Committee, and to sug- 
gest any plan of reorganization which might make for 
greater efficiency; third, from conferences with mem- 
bers of the School Committee, Superintendent, Assist- 
ant Superintendents, Business Agent, directors, masters, 
and teachers; and fourth, from observations made in 
attendance upon a conference of the School Committee 
and upon a meeting of the Board of Superintendents, 
together with an analysis of the minutes of eleven 
meetings of the Board of Superintendents. 

Tt|.e situation can be made clearest, possibly, by 
representing graphically the organization as it at present 
exists, indicating by lines drawn the responsibility of 
each employee of the School Board to the several 
executive officers, and the relationships of these officers 
to each other. This graph, which is given below, is 
based not only upon a careful study of the proposed 
revised rules of the School Committee, but upon the 
information collected from the reports made and con- 
ferences held with various employees of the School 
Committee. It appears to members of our commission 
to represent not only the organization proposed by the 
new rules, but also the present practice. . 



16 City Document No. 87. 

From all the testimony presented, and from all of the 
observation made by members of the committee, it 
appears that there is no responsible executive head of 
the school system. The School Committee, as a matter 
of practice as well as by rule, have divided among the 
Superintendents of Schools, the Board of Superin- 
tendents, the Business Agent, the Secretary, and the 
Schoolhouse Custodian, the control of various parts or 
aspects of the school system. The proposed revised 
rules state specifically that ''the Superintendent shall 
be the executive officer of the Board in all matters 
relating to instruction and discipline in the schools"; 
that ''the Board of Superintendents shall give written 
opinion on any question when so required" . . . "by 
the Board or any sub-committee thereof; and may 
present to the Board recommendations on its own 
initiative whenever occasion warrants"; that "the 
Board of Superintendents shall approve books of refer- 
ence and educational material issued in the schools, 
except dictionaries, encyclopedias, and atlases, in accord- 
ance with the regulations"; and that the Board of 
Superintendents shall act as a board of examiners; that 
"the Business Agent shall be the executive officer of 
the Board in charge of the accounts, receipts of income, 
preparation of pay rolls, purchase, storing, and dis- 
tribution of supplies, including printing, postage, and 
the transportation of pupils"; that "requisitions for 
books, printing, postage, fuel, and materials of every 
description required for use by any officer, or in any 
School Department, shall be subject to his approval. 
He shall fill such requisitions as he shall approve, within 
the limits of the appropriations made." . . . "He 
shall include" in his reports submitted to the Board 
" such recommendations tending to a more economical 
expenditure of appropriations as he may deem expe- 
dient." . . . " He shall consider and report upon any 
proposition relating to an extension of or change in the 
school system involving additional expense, or a con- 
templated expenditure for which provision has not been 
made in the annual appropriation order, before action 
thereon shall be taken"; that "the Secretary shall be 
custodian of the School Committee building"; that "he 
may issue and cancel permits for the use of the school 
premises for other than the regular work of the schools 
in accordance with the regulations"; that "the School- 
house Custodian shall be the executive officer of the 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 17 

Board in all matters relating to the care and custody 
of the land and buildings used for school purposes, 
except the School Committee building"; that "he shall 
exercise general supervision and control over the 
janitors and their assistants, and matrons employed in 
the several school buildings, except the School Commit- 
tee building; see that the rules and regulations for their 
government are enforced, and report to the Board, in 
writing, cases of negligence or inefficiency on the part 
of such employees"; that he shall appoint, transfer, 
and remove janitors and matrons, and suspend janitors 
and matrons. 

In the quotations from the proposed revised rules 
given above, there is nothing which seems to violate 
in any way the present practice of the executive office. 
No attempt has been made in the quotations given to 
present the case completely, but, rather, to indicate by 
the selections quoted, or statements made in accord 
with the rules, that there are actually four executive 
officers and one executive Board coordinate in authority 
by virtue of the duties which they perform and the 
authority vested in them by the rules of the School 
Committee. To this list of executive authorities might 
be added the Trial Board, upon which the Secretary, 
Business Agent, and a school janitor sit as a judicial 
body to consider charges and complaints preferred 
against any janitor or matron which may be referred to 
it by the Board; the Salary Board, which consists of the 
Superintendent, the Business Agent, and the Secretary, 
who annually consider the salaries of all persons employed 
under the various titles in the administrative offices of 
the Board; and the Board of Apportionment, which 
consists of the Superintendent, two assistant superin- 
tendents assigned by the Superintendent, and the 
Business Agent, who have "general control of the 
appropriations made by the Board for supplies and 
incidentals," and who may make such transfers as it 
may deem expedient within such appropriations. 

In the report submitted by individual members of the 
Board of Superintendents, it appears that the majority 
of the members of this Board consider themselves 
important as a Board in the development and control of 
the school system. They suggest that it is through this 
Board that educational policies are advocated and put 
into operation; that this body studies educational prob- 
lems and reports directly to the School Committee; 



18 City Document No. 87. 

and that it should be considered as the central unifying 
force in the school system. There is apparently little 
doubt in the minds of the members of this group con- 
cerning the responsibility and authority vested in them 
as an executive body. 

The Business Agent, as has already been indicated in 
the quotations from the rules, is actually an executive 
officer responsible directly to the School Committee. 
His authority, however, in the minds of many teachers, 
masters and executive officers is much greater than 
would appear upon reading the rules. He can, subject 
to appeal from his decision, determine educational 
policy by refusing to purchase the books which are 
needed, and which could be purchased within the 
appropriation allowed to a particular school or depart- 
ment. He can interfere with the development of a 
particular part of the school system through refusing to 
buy supplies which are needed, on account of an increase 
in cost, or because he doubts the wisdom of adding the 
particular sort of supply or equipment which is desired. 
He may interfere with the efficiency of a particular 
school or department through a change in equipment 
which may make for economy, while at the same time 
handicapping pupils whose earning capacity will depend 
upon having experience with equipment not allowed by 
him in the schools. It appears in every case that there 
is an opportunity for an appeal from the decision of the 
Business Agent to the Board of Apportionment, and 
finally to the School Committee. In practice, however, 
assistant superintendents, directors, masters and heads 
of departments are apt to refrain from making such 
appeals, both on account of the time involved, and 
because of a perfectly natural desire to maintain amicable 
relationships with an important executive officer of the 
School Committee. Testimony has been given which 
goes to show that in many cases distinctly educational 
policy has actually been interfered with by the Busi- 
ness Agent, by virtue of the authority vested in this 
office. 

The Secretary has, in so far as the rules indicate his 
position, little executive authority. It appears, how- 
ever, to be the policy of the School Committee as at 
present constituted to depend upon the Secretary, the 
Business Agent, and one or more assistant superinten- 
dents for advice, which ought, in a well organized school 
system, to be required of their chief executive officer. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 19 

The Schoolhouse Custodian is given such large execu- 
tive authority in deahng with janitors and matrons as 
to provide for a minimum of responsibihty or authority 
by the Superintendent. In an inspection of school 
buildings it seemed apparent to members of the com- 
mission that conditions were tolerated which must have 
been reformed immediately were the Schoolhouse Cus- 
todian responsible to the Superintendent of Schools. 

Proposed Reorganization. 

The proposed reorganization of the administration of 
schools which follows is suggested in the firm belief that 
greater efficiency will be made possible, and that in the 
long run such efficiency will make for economy in 
administration. The proposals which are made, and 
the criticism of the present organization which has 
already been indicated, are not intended in any way to 
reflect upon the integrity or the efficiency of the em- 
ployees of the School Committee. Indeed, we have been 
impressed in our study by the individual efficiency of 
the Superintendent, members of the Board of Superin- 
tendents, Business Agent and Secretary. The difficulty 
is not with the individuals concerned, but, rather, with 
an organization which is cumbersome and which renders 
impossible the highest degree of efficiency. As the 
situation is at present, a very large proportion of the 
time and energy of executive officers must be spent in 
conferences in which matters are settled upon a personal 
basis which ought to be determined by the chief execu- 
tive officer of the school system, by virtue of the author- 
ity vested in him by the School Committee, and in the 
light of the responsibility which he alone should have. 
In passing, it might be noted that the lack of an admin- 
istration building, in which all of the offices of the 
School Committee might be located, is in itself a handi- 
cap which should be overcome at the earliest possible 
moment by the erection and equipment of a suitable 
building. 

The final authority for the control and development 
of the school system of Boston is (except for buildings, 
which are in charge of the Schoolhouse Commission) 
vested in the School Committee. The management of 
this great public service may be conducted most effici- 
ently only upon that basis of organization which has 
been found to make for efficiency in private business. 



20 City Document No. 87. 

We are coming in our consideration of governmental 
problems to accept as our final criterion the very simple 
dictum, ''Does it work?" From the testimony which 
has been given to the committee, and from such observa- 
tions as they have been able to make, it seems entirely 
clear that the present organization not only invites but 
actually promotes inefficiency. As has already been 
indicated, the time and energy of executive officers is 
wasted in making adjustments on a personal basis. 
The Board of Superintendents, the Business Agent, the 
Secretary and the Schoolhouse Custodian may and do 
operate independently. The Superintendent of Schools, 
who is the expert employed by the School Committee, 
and who receives the largest salary paid to any employee, 
has neither the responsibility nor the authority which 
should be vested in a chief executive. 

The School Committee may properly be considered 
as exercising the responsibility of a Board of Directors 
responsible to their constituency, the citizens of Boston. 
They must pass upon all matters which have to do 
with the maintenance and development of the public 
school system. As laymen they cannot to advantage 
and should not therefore attempt to administer the 
school system. Efficiency in administration demands 
that they choose a superintendent of schools as their 
chief executive officer, who should, by rule of the School 
Committee, and in the exercise of his own judgment, 
delegate to other executive officers those duties which 
could best be performed by them. All other executives 
should report to the Board of Education through him, 
except in cases of an appeal from the decision of the 
Superintendent, in which the subordinate executive or 
any other employee should carry his case before the 
School Committee. Under this arrangement, all ques- 
tions of policy for the schools not determined by rule 
or regulation of the School Committee, and not of 
sufficient significance to be brought before them for 
decision, should be decided by the Superintendent and 
reported to the committee. In the following paragraphs 
will be indicated as definitely as possible what the 
proposed reorganization would mean with respect to 
the relationships existing among the present executive 
officers of the School Committee. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 21 



The Board of Superintendents. 

The Board of Superintendents should, as a Board, be 
abolished. An analysis of eleven meetings of this 
Board shows that four of them were given over wholly 
to matters which should be decided by an examining 
board or committee; that among the other matters dis- 
cussed, such as courses of study, methods of instruction, 
examination of pupils, selection of text and reference 
books, determination of educational materials, requests 
for appropriation of funds, and the like, each and every 
matter might better have been reported directly to the 
Superintendent by the assistant superintendent in 
charge, and either decided by him or discussed with 
other assistant superintendents as he saw fit. Some 
indication of the relative importance of the various 
items brought before the Board in the eleven meetings 
analyzed is indicated by the fact that in sixty-one cases 
matters had to do with the qualifications of teachers, 
and in thirty-six cases all other matters listed above 
were considered. The formal meeting of the Board of 
Superintendents consists of reports of conferences 
which had been held between the Superintendent and 
individual members of the Board, and of reports of 
work done by virtue of an assignment by the Superin- 
tendent to individual members of the group. In so far 
as this Board operates to oppose or to interfere with the 
development of the Superintendent's program, and to 
the degree that it is considered as in a position of 
coordinate authority with the Superintendent of Schools, 
there is a divided authority and responsibility and an 
opportunity for inefficiency in management. 

The chief executive officer of the Board of Education — 
the Superintendent of Schools — should nominate the 
assistant superintendents. His efficiency in very large 
measure is determined by having as his assistants men 
who will work with him for the realization of his plans 
and ideals in accordance with the policies adopted by 
the School Committee. The relationship between the 
Superintendent of Schools and one of his assistants 
should be such as to place him in position of direct 
responsibility to the Superintendent. Under such con- 
ditions an assistant superintendent, to the degree that 



22 City Document No. 87. 

he is efficient, increases the efficienoy of the Superin- 
tendent as the chief executive officer, and at the same 
time the efficiency of the whole system. 

The assistant superintendents should be placed in 
charge of the work of examining and certificating teachers. 
It does not, however, seem necessary to pay salaries 
as large as those paid to assistant superintendents of 
schools in order to carry on much of the routine work. 
If an examining board were constituted with the assist- 
ant superintendents in charge, and with less highly 
paid assistants responsible for preparation of the ques- 
tions and the marking of papers, the time and energy 
of these highly paid professional specialists might, it 
seems to the committee, be used to greater advantage 
in the general supervision and administration of the 
school system. 

The Business Agent. 

The Business Agent should continue to be in charge 
of accounts, receipts of income, preparation of the pay 
rolls, purchase, storing and distribution of supplies, 
including printing, postage and the transportation of 
pupils. He should keep a complete set of accounts of 
the expenditures of the Board, prepare pay rolls, exam- 
ine all bills of expenditure, certify as to their correctness 
in all respects and prepare requisitions on the City 
Auditor for the payment of pay rolls and accounts 
which have been approved by the Board. He should 
report monthly to the Superintendent of Schools on dis- 
bursements and budget balances in such form as the 
Superintendent may require. He should also report to 
the Superintendent prior to the making of the annual 
budget concerning the amount of money available for 
the period for which the budget is prepared. 

The Business Agent should not have authority to 
pass upon requisition for books, printing, postage and 
educational materials required for use in the school 
system, except as such authority may be delegated to 
him by the Superintendent, and whenever the purchase 
of books or educational supplies or equipment of any 
sort is approved by the Superintendent, they should, 
within the appropriation allowed, be provided by the 
Business Agent. All recommendations from the Busi- 
ness Agent to the School Committee should be made 
through the office of the Superintendent. The annual 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 23 

budget should be prepared by him, in conference with 
the Superintendent of Schools, and should be submitted 
to the School Committee through the Superintendent's 
office. 

The plan given above for the reorganization of the 
executive offices which places the Business Agent in a 
position subordinate to the Superintendent is not in- 
tended to deny to the Business Agent the right to 
report to the School Committee, when, in his judgment, 
expenditures are approved by the educational authority 
which involve wastefulness or extravagance. The sug- 
gestion that the budget for the year be prepared by the 
Superintendent in cooperation with the Business Agent 
provides for the utilization of the special knowledge 
which he possesses. In this case, as well as in the other 
mentioned above, the Business Agent would have the 
right and the obligation to report to the School Board 
in case there was a disagreement between them involv- 
ing any considerable sum of money. 

To state the matter very briefly, the Business Agent 
should conduct the affairs of his office entirely under 
the general direction of the Superintendent of Schools, 
and with distinct responsibility to him, and shouly 
never be permitted to determine any educational polled 
by virtue 'of his activity as an accounting, purchasing 
or distributing agent. His office, under the plan of the 
reorganization suggested, would not be less important 
than it is at present, except for the fact that he would 
not be an executive officer of the Board, coordinate in 
authority with the Superintendent, but rather an 
executive subordinate to the chief executive officer 
charged with large responsibility, and having by virtue 
of his office an opportunity to make a large contribu- 
tion to the efficiency of the school system. 

The Secretary. 

The Secretary of the School Committee should be, 
in fact as well as in name, a secretary. He should not 
be called upon to exercise any executive authority. As 
Secretary to the School Committee he should report to 
the Superintendent of Schools for his consideration all 
business coming to his office. In many cases there 
would be no need for suggestion or comment by the 
chief executive. In other cases, review would be neces- 
sary in order to make for the highest degree of efficiency 



24 City Document No. 87. 

for the whole school system. The Superintendent of 
Schools should, with the cooperation of the Secretary and 
of all other officers who report to him, present all busi- 
ness to the Board, whether of public meetings or in con- 
ferences. 

SCHOOLHOUSE CuSTODIAN. 

Such executive authority as is at present exercised by 
the Schoolhouse Custodian should be vested in him 
only as delegated by the Superintendent of Schools, 
and his action in any of these matters should be subject 
to review and to final decision by the Superintendent, 
subject only to appeal to the School Committee. 

Board of Apportionment. 

If the reorganization suggested above is accomplished 
the Board of Apportionment should be abolished. The 
Superintendent of Schools, as the responsible executive 
head of the school system, would find occasion to con- 
sult with assistant superintendents, Business Agent and 
directors concerning the control of moneys provided for 
supplies and incidentals, and with respect to transfers 
to be made within the amount allowed. The Business 
Agent would still, by virtue of his office, report to the 
Superintendent concerning the balance available for 
each school or district and should inform the Superin- 
tendent if any expenditures under any item shall have 
equalled or exceeded the amounts allowed. The Super- 
intendent, with such consultation upon the part of 
assistant superintendents, Business Agent or others as 
as he may desire, should apportion annually the income 
of the Bowdoin and Gibson Funds among the schools 
entitled to share therein. 

It is of the utmost importance that the Board of 
Apportionment be continued unless the Business Agent 
be made directly responsible to the Superintendent of 
Schools as the chief executive officer of the Board. 
Under the existing conditions, in which the Superintend- 
ent of Schools and the Business Agent are executive 
ofiicers, each of whom is directly responsible to the 
Board, the Board of Apportionment makes possible, in 
those cases in which appeals are made from the decision 
of the Business Agent with respect to the buying of 
books or supplies, adjustments in the light of educational 
needs and the development of educational policies. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 25 



The Salary Board. 

The Salary Board should be abolished. The Super- 
intendent of Schools should recommend to the School 
Committee changes in salaries of persons employed 
under various titles in the administrative offices of the 
committee, and would undoubtedly, in the making of 
these recommendations, consult the heads of depart- 
ments working under his direction. If any injustice 
were done, there would always be the possibility of 
appeal to the School Committee. 

Summary of Administrative Reorganization 
Recommended. 

The School Committee are charged with the respon- 
sibility of providing an efficient system of public educa- 
tion for the City of Boston. They must determine all 
questions of policy for the development of public educa- 
tion, adopt a budget within the limit of the moneys 
provided by law for the support of the schools, and enact 
rules and regulations for the conduct of the school 
system. They have the final authority, and are the 
court of last resort. In order to carry out most effici- 
ently and economically the policies which they deter- 
mine they must, as do all other lay boards, whether in 
charge of private or public business, delegate to a 
responsible executive that authority which can be exer- 
cised best only by a professional expert who is able to 
study the whole problem and to coordinate the activi- 
ties of all employees. The delegation of this authority 
to the Superintendent of Schools enables them to fix 
responsibility. The Superintendent in his turn, accept- 
ing such authority and responsibility, may be expected 
to secure from each subordinate officer or teacher the 
largest possible contribution to the development of the 
school system only as his position is recognized by them 
and to the degree that he is supported by the School 
Committee. Every such responsible executive delegates 
authority and responsibility to his subordinates to just 
the degree in which they are willing to cooperate with 
him and their colleagues in the carrying out of the 
policies determined by the lay board. The responsible 
executive may make mistakes, but his orders or decisions 
are always subject to appeal to the School Committee. 
If it were discovered that such an executive officer was 



26 City Document No. 87. 

frequently in the wrong, or that he was incompetent, 
it would be wuthin the province of tiie lay board to 
remove him and to provide a more efficient manager. 

A somewhat popular fallacy that matters requiring 
large executive and administrative ability cannot be 
satisfactorily placed in the hands of professional educa- 
tors is apparently based upon the belief that educators 
have had small experience with administrative problems 
and are not, therefore, skillful executives. There is no 
generalization concerning public executives more com- 
pletely false to the facts in the case than is this. The 
city Superintendent of Schools is in a large city the 
one cit}^ official commonly chosen from the country at 
large. In a very real sense the Superintendent of 
Schools of our great cities represent the survi^'al of the 
fittest among educational executives. Other city officials 
are commonly chosen from the localities in which they 
are employed. In private business the choice of execu- 
tives is usually not even from among men of an entire 
city, but rather from the employees of a single business. 
Only in the school superintendency do we find in the 
•position of largest responsibility men chosen from the 
entire country on the basis of their success in executive 
positions in smaller localities. A glance at the figures, 
showing the number of men engaged in different grades 
of educational positions, will indicate that the school 
superintendent in the large cities is commonly chosen 
on the basis of an extensive selection unparalleled in 
any other caUing. These figures are substantially as 
follows : 

Superintendents in cities of over 1,000.000 inhabitants 3 

Superintendents in cities of from 250,000 to 1,000,000 16 

Superintendents in cities of from 50,000 to 250,000 90 

Superintendents in cities of from 10,000 to 50,000 492 

Superintendents in cities of from 5,000 to 10,000 629 

Public school teachers in all localities 566,000 

The men who pass through this selective process from 
positions as teachers to principalships, to superinten- 
dencies in villages, to those in towns, to those in small 
cities, and finally, to those in large cities arrive in their 
ultimate positions because they possess in rare com- 
bination educational ability and executive ability. In 
the smaller communities they personally transact the 
business as well as the educational affairs of the school 
systems. Unless they are notablj^ successful in dealing 
with the matters of educational business they are not 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 27 

selected for positions in the cities of the next larger 
size. When they have reached the cities of the largest 
size we may be very certain that they have successfully 
and successively demonstrated marked ability in the 
transaction of educational business. 

It is a most short-sighted policy which takes away 
from these men the general control of the school system 
in our large cities in order to provide for independent 
business executives, boards of superintendents, or other 
executives coordinate in authority with the Superin- 
teiident. 

Whatever may be the position of the Superintendent 
of Schools, as determined by the rules of the School 
Committee, it cannot be denied that in the last analysis 
the teachers in the school system, the press of the city 
and the general public hold the Superintendent respon- 
sible for the failures of the school system, and give him 
some credit for that part of the work which is considered 
successful. If this responsibility, clearly conceived by 
the public, is denied to the Superintendent of Schools 
by the School Committee, he is placed in the unfair 
position of lacking authority commensurate with his 
responsibility. 

With the system of reorganization which has been 
proposed above, the time and energy of the Superin- 
tendent of Schools and of other executive officers now 
wasted in group and individual conferences upon 
unimportant matters would be saved for the considera- 
tion and execution of the larger and more important 
plans for the development of the school system. There 
is, in the opinion of the committee, no possibility of a 
maximum of efficiency or of economy in the conduct of 
a school system in which many executive heads work 
more or less at cross purposes. With the reorganization 
that is suggested there becomes possible the achieve- 
ment of a degree of efficiency commonly enjoyed by well 
managed public and private business. 



28 City Document No. 87. 



CHAPTER II.— REORGANIZATION OF DISTRICT 

SUPERVISION OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 

WITH PROVISIONS FOR AN INCREASE IN 

EFFICIENCY AND A SAVING IN COST. 

The supervision of elementary schools is organized 
upon the basis of geographical units called districts. 
In each of ten of these districts there are two masters 
devoting their whole time to supervision. For each of 
twenty-nine districts having an average daily attend- 
ance of more than a thousand pupils there is one 
master. For each of twenty districts having an average 
daily attendance of less than a thousand pupils there is 
one master. From the figures of attendance which are 
indicated in a table given below the reappears to be no 
relationship between the number of pupils in average 
daily attendance and the number of masters employed 
under the present system. For example, the Bigelow- 
Shurtleff, Hart-Gaston, Dwight-Everett, Sherwin-Hyde 
and Agassiz-Bowditch Districts all support two masters, 
while the Lincoln, Mather, Holmes, Adams, and Wells 
Districts, each of which has a larger average daily 
attendance than any one of those just mentioned, have 
one master each. 

A similar discrepancy is found with respect to the 
number of submasters at present employed. The Bige- 
low-Shurtleff District, with an average daily attendance 
of 1,811 children, has two submasters, while the Mather 
with 2,054 and the Wells with 2,046 children in average 
daily attendance have one submaster each. There are 
doubtless conditions to be met and traditions which 
have become established in the organization of the 
several districts which account for the assignment of 
masters and submasters that have been made. The 
discrepancies which appear from the standpoint of the 
organization of a system of supervision are due, it seems 
to us, in considerable measure, to a misapprehension 
concerning the function of submasters. In practice the 
submaster teaches a seventh or eighth grade, and has 
assigned certain other extra class duties, for which a 
very considerable increase in salary is paid. He does 
not, however, by virtue of these duties, or on account 
of the larger salary, become a supervisory officer. 

The scheme for supervision which we propose places 
a master in charge of all districts having more than a 
thousand children in average daily attendance, and pro- 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 29 

vides for his assistants in supervising the district one 
submaster, who is to devote all of his time to super- 
vision whenever the number of children in average 
daily attendance exceeds 1,500, and two submasters 
whenever this number exceeds 3,000. For the districts 
having less than a thousand children in average daily 
attendance it is proposed to provide for supervision by 
a submaster who has already had experience under the 
direction of a master in one of the larger districts. The 
extra class activities now performed by submasters 
are provided for by designating certain upper grade 
teachers as junior masters and by continuing the office 
of first assistant in charge and master's assistant. 

Under the revised scheme the salary schedule would 
read as follows: Junior masters from $1,212 to $1,500; 
first assistants in charge from $1,212 to $1,500; master's 
assistants from $1,212 to $1,500; submasters at work in 
the larger districts under the direction of a master, 
$1,500 to $2,000; submasters in charge of a small dis- 
trict, $2,000 to $2,340; master, $2,580 to $3,420. 

The plan of reorganization proposed will allow for 
twelve more persons actually engaged in supervision 
than the present organization provides, while at the 
same time reducing the cost. There will be provided, 
as well, a scheme for promotion which will make it 
possible to select the abler teachers for supervisory 
work, and to promote them from junior master, first 
assistant or master's assistant having extra class duties, 
to the position of submaster working under the direc- 
tion of a master, to the position of submaster in charge 
of a small district, and finally to the position of master 
in charge of a district. 

The suggestion concerning the opportunities for pro- 
motion are not meant in any way to indicate that it is 
desirable to fill master's positions only by promoting 
from the Boston school system. On the other hand, 
it is distinctly urged that men and women from other 
school systems be elected to the position of submaster 
and master from time to time, in order to introduce 
the new points of view which may be expected from 
those who have been trained in other school systems. 

It is proposed to add to the present supervisory corps 
five primary supervisors for the sake of furnishing a 
type of leadership for the teachers of the lower grades 
and kindergartens which is not already provided by 
district supervision. The complete reorganization here 
suggested, and as indicated in the table which is given 



30 



City Document No. 87. 



below, provides, in the judgment of the committee, a 
much more adequate plan of supervision than is now in 
operation, and would, if put into effect, immediately 
save more than $45,000 annually. 

It is not proposed, however, that this scheme be put 
into effect at once. It seems preferable to establish the 
policy and to determine future appointments upon the 
basis indicated. 

By the time this program becomes effective over the 
whole school system, due to the increase in the school 
population and number of schools, the saving will greatly 
exceed that which is calculated upon the basis of the 
present situation. 

The plan of supervision which we have proposed is 
not intended to interfere in any way with a consolida- 
tion of districts which might be brought about to 
advantage upon recommendation of the Superintendent 
of Schools. Such consolidations as might be effected 
would in no way interfere with the general plan for the 
organization of supervision which we have proposed. 
A more extended study of the problem would, we believe, 
show the desirability of consolidating districts, and 
would result not only in a saving in cost but also in 
an increase in the efficiency of supervision. 

The table below gives the reorganization proposed, 
together with the present and promised cost. 



REORGANIZATION OF THE DISTRICT SUPERVISION WITH 

PROVISION FOR AN INCREASE IN EFFICIENCY AND A 

SAVING OF COST. 

Fifty-two Submasters are more than Thirty-five Years of Age 

AND Teaching Seventh or Eighth Grades; Thirty-one are 

Thirty-five Years of Age or Under and Teaching. 

Districts Supporting Two Masters — Same Geographical Area. 





Present Organization. 1 


Proposed Organization. 


Districts. 


* Number 
Pupils in 
Average 
Attend- 
ance. 


Masters. 


Sub- 
masters. 


Masters. 


t Sub- 
masters. 


Junior 
Masters. 




4,244 
2,433 
2,064 
1,961 
1,811 
1,920 
1,563 
1,767 
2,445 
1,6S0 


2 

2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 


3 
3 
1 

1 
2 
2 
2 
2 
3 
1 




2 


3 


Wendell Phillips-Bowdoin, 


3 
1 


Lawrence-Norcross 

Bigelow-Shurtleff 

Thomas N. Hart-Gaston. . 


1 
2 
2 
2 


Sherwin-Hyde 

Dudley-Dillaway 

Agassiz-Bowditch 


2 
3 
1 


Totals 




20 


20 


10 


11 


20 









* From School Document No. 12, 1915, pages 9-10. 

t Submaster assigned when number of children reaches 1,500. An additional submaster 
allowed when number of children exceeds 3,000. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



31 



District with One Master and more than 1,000 Pupils 
in Average Attendance. 





Districts. 


Present Organization. 


Proposed Organization. 




Number 
Pupils in 
Average 
Attend- 
ance. 


Masters. 


Sub- 
masters. 


Masters. 


Sub- 
masters. 


Junior 
Masters. 


1. 


Abraham Lincoln. . . 


2,053 




2 




1 


2 


2. 


Bennett 


1,158 












3. 


Chapman 


1,042 












4 


Coming 


1,071 












5 




1,715 
1,355 


1 

1 






1 




6. 


Edward Everett .... 




7. 


Elihu Greenwood. . . 


1,061 












8. 


Emerson 


1,177 












9. 


George Putnam .... 


1,524 








1 




10. 


Henry L. Pierce .... 


1,370 












11. 


Hugh O'Brien 


1,464 












12. 


John A. Andrew. . . . 


1,197 












13. 


John Winthrop 


1,256 












14 




1,801 








1 




15. 


Longfellow 


1,093 












16. 


Lowell 


1,093 












17. 


Mary Hemenway . . . 


1,526 




2 




1 


2 


18. 


Mather 


2,054 




1 




1 


1 


19. 


0. W. Holmes 


2,709 




3 




1 


3 


20. 


Phillips Brooks 


1,423 




2 






2 


21. 


Quincy 


1,080 




2 






2 


22. 


Roger Wolcott 


1,537 




1 




1 


1 


23. 


Samuel Adams 


2,071 




1 




1 


1 


24. 


Theodore Lyman . . . 


1,222 




1 






1 


25. 


Thomas Gardner . . . 


1,236 




2 






2 


26. 


Ulysses S. Grant. . . . 


1,084 




1 






1 


27. 


Washington 


1,561 




2 




1 


2 


?8 


Wells 


2,046 
1,112 




1 

1 




1 


1 


29. 


William E. Russell . . 


1 




Totals 




29 


41 


29 


11 


41 











32 



City Document No. 87. 



DISTRICTS WITH FEWER THAN 1,000 CHILDREN IN AVERAGE 
ATTENDANCE OUTSIDE OF CONSOLIDATED DISTRICTS 
AND EXCLUSIVE OF THE MARTIN SCHOOL, WHICH IS 
THE PRACTICE SCHOOL FOR THE NORMAL SCHOOL. 





Present Organization. 


Proposed 
Organization. 


Districts. 


Number 
Pupils in 
Average 
Attend- 
ance. 


Masters. 


Sub- 
masters. 


Sub- 
masters. 


Junior 
Masters. 




606 

688 
803 
640 
826 
795 
769 
555 
599 
1B43 
580 
822 
751 
609 
996 
803 
882 
935 
977 
860 




1 

1 

1 






2 Bunker Hill 




3. Gibson 




4. Edmund P. Tileston 




























11. Minot 




12. Oliver H. Perry 




13. Prescott 










* 




2 


17. Gilbert Stuart 




18. Robert G. Shaw 
















Totals . 




20 


21 

1 


20 


21 









Report on Boston Public Schools. 33 



PRESENT MAXIMUM COST OF SUPERVISION. 

Total 
Salary. Salaries. 

10 Consolidated Districts, same Geographical 
Area, Having Two Masters. 

* 20 masters S3,420 $68,400 

1 20 submasters 2,340 46,800 

29 Districts with more than 1,000 Pupils in 
Average Daily Attendance Having 
One Master. 

*i29 masters $3,420 $99,180 

t 41 submasters 2,340 95,940 

20 Small Districts with Fewer than 1,000 
Pupils Having One Master. 

* 20 masters $3,420 $68,400 

1 21 submasters 2,340 49,140 



Total number of persons, 151. Costing . . . $427,860 

* Number of persons actually engaged in supervision, 69. 
t Number of persons actually engaged in teaching, 82. 



PROPOSED MAXIMUM COST OF SUPERVISION. 

Total 

Salary. Salaries. 

10 Consolidated Districts, same Geographical 
Area, Having Two Masters. 

* 10 masters $3,420 $34,200 

* 11 submasters 2,000 22,000 

1 20 junior masters (in place of submasters teaching), 1,500 30,000 

29 Districts with more than 1,000 Pupils in 
Average Daily Attendance. 

* 29 masters $3,420 $99,180 

* 11 submasters 2,340 25,740 

t 41 junior masters 1,500 61,500 

20 Districts with Fewer than 1,000 Pupils in 
Average Daily Attendance. 

* 20 submasters (in charge of small districts) . . $2,340 $68,400 
t 21 junior masters (in place of submasters now 

teaching) * . 1,500 31,500 

* 5 primary supervisors 2,000 10,000 

Total number of persons, 168. Costing . . . $382,520 

* Number of persons actually engaged in supervision . . 86 
t Number of persons actually engaged in teaching ... 82 

Number of persons added 17 

Number added to those actually engaged in supervision, . 17 

Present cost $427,860 

Proposed cost 382,520 

Saving $45,340 



34 



City Document No. 87. 



The reorganization of supervision proposed can be 
best accomplished, we believe, in the manner indicated 
by the following table dealing with typical situations: 



LARGE DISTRICTS. 



Present Organization. 

Vacancy occurring: 
One of the masters of the district. 
The one remaining master of the 
district. 

One of two submasters with two 
masters still in service in the dis- 
trict. 

The second of two submasters 
with two masters still in service in 
the district. 

One of two submasters — one 
master in service and one super- 
vising submaster already appointed 
on account of vacancy in one 
master's position. 



Proposed Organization. 

Vacancy filled by appointing: 
A supervising submaster, 
A master. 



A junior master teaching. 



A supervising submaster. 



A supervising submaster. 



SMALL DISTRICTS. 



Present Organization. 
One Master — Two Submasters. 

Vacancy occurring: 

Master. 

One of two submasters. 

Second of two submasters. 



Proposed Organization. 
One Master — One Submaster. 

Vacancy filled by appointing: 
Master. 

Junior master teaching. 
Junior master for teaching posi- 
tion "and supervising submaster. 



SMALLEST DISTRICTS. 



Present Organization. 
One Master — One Submaster. 

Vacancy occurring: 

Master. 

Submaster, 



Proposed Organization. 

One Submaster — One Junior 
Master Teaching. 

Vacancy filled by appointing: 
Supervising submaster. 
Junior master teaching. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 35 

CHAPTER IIP— THE HIGH SCHOOL SITUATION. 



High School Attendance and Costs. 

The first outstanding fact with regard to the high 
and Latin schools of Boston is the recent tremendous 
increase in secondary school attendance. The figures 
on page 6 of School Document No. 12, 1915, show- 
that the ''average membership" (average number 
belonging) in the high and Latin schools increased from 
12,121 in 1910-11 to 15,714 in 1914-15; and later 
figures show that the ''number of pupils in schools" in 
November, 1^15, was 17,848, an increase in five years of 
5,727 pupils. The yearly increases were as follows: 
from 1910-11 to 1911-12, 772; from 1911-12 to 1912-13, 
438; from 1912-13 to 1913-14, 1,062; from 1913-14 
to 1914-15, 1,321; and from 1914-15 to the end of the 
calendar year 1915, 2,134 (the last returns of the 
"Special Report on Day High and Latin School Organ- 
ization" are dated about December first). This extraor- 
dinary growth of the high school population has 
naturally caused the schools to outgrow entirely their 
building accommodations wherever new building or 
school enlargement was not made to keep pace with the 
increasing enrollment. The conditions at the Dorches- 
ter High School, for example, are probably unparalleled 
in any other city of Boston's class. 

Naturally, also, the extraordinary increase in the high 
school population has necessitated in the high school 
item of the School Committee's budget a much greater 
expenditure in 1914-15 than was devoted to this item 
five years ago. On the other hand, a distinct effort to 
keep high school expenses within reasonable bounds 
appears to be discernible in the fact that the per capita 
cost of the Latin and high schools has not risen very 
rapidly in the five years under consideration in spite of 
the introduction of new and relatively expensive develop- 
ments; for example, the 1912 increase of high school 
salaries and the special organization in the Mechanic 
Arts High School, whereby a teacher is allowed for 
every 24 pupils (as against the quota of 35 for the 
other high schools). Indeed, a tabulation of per capita 
costs of the various high schools in 1915 and in 1910 
shows that some of them have materially reduced their 
per capita cost; and other figures submitted to us show 
that the per capita cost of instruction (including here 



36 City Document No. 87. 

''Salary of Head Master," ''Salaries of Teachers," and 
"Salaries of Clerks") has risen only from $62.35 in 
1910 to $63.61 in 1915. 

Probably the largest single factor in keeping the high 
school costs from going any higher than they have 
gone has been the rising number of pupils per teacher 
(based on average number belonging) in the high and 
Latin schools. School Document No. 12, 1915, 
shows (page 19) a marked upward movement of this 
figure since 1912, as follows: 1912-13, 27.8; 1913-14, 
29.4; 1914-15, 31.2, the highest it has ever been. Thus 
perhaps a distinct item of recent school policy has been 
to offset rising salaries with rising size of classes. With- 
out doubt this movement should not be permitted to 
go any further, for it must inevitably lower the efficiency 
of the secondary school instruction. Already it is quite 
apparent that the head masters, facing the necessity of 
forming a considerable number of sections below the 
general average of 31, and, of course, decidedly below 
the teacher quota figure of 35, have formed a large 
number of sections running not only above 35 but even 
in some cases above 45. 

To find a line of development for the relief of present 
high school conditions, without impairing the quality of 
the instruction, we turn to the beginning of a junior 
high school growth already existing in the Boston 
elementary school system. 

The Junior High School. 

In the Superintendent's annual report of December, 
1914 (School Document No. 11, 1914), is to be found 
(page 43 f.) a brief argument for the Intermediate School, 
or Junior High School, and a statement that "inter- 
mediate classes" had been introduced into ten districts. 
We understand that there are now 20 intermediate or 
junior high centers for differentiated seventh and eighth 
grade work. We recommend the extension of this 
movement by the inclusion of the first high school year 
with the seventh and eighth grades, and by the sys- 
tematic development of properly located three grade 
junior high schools. 

In the report of the United States Commissioner of 
Education for the year 1914, page 137, a junior high 
school is defi-ned as "An organization of grades seven 
and eight, or seven to nine, whether housed with the 
senior high school or independently, to provide by 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 37 

various means for individual differences, especially by 
an earlier introduction of pre-vocational work or of 
subjects usually taught in the high schools." 

New buildings for junior high schools were recom- 
mended by the Superintendent a year ago for congested 
districts as a means of relieving at one stroke both high 
school and elementary school overcrowding. In all 
probability also it will be found advantageous to intro- 
duce into at least some of the proposed junior high 
schools a differentiated line of instruction embracing 
elementary mechanic arts activities; and into these 
courses might be incorporated the present pre-vocational 
center classes. Compare the section of this report 
devoted to industrial and vocational education. 

We recommend the general organization of junior 
high schools not only to extend the advantages of this 
type of school to all parts of the city, but also to reduce 
school costs; for salaries in junior high schools, where 
instruction will be given departmentally to seventh and 
eighth grade pupils alongside of first year high school 
pupils, need not be on the high school schedule. Indeed 
experience in other cities proves that, if the elementary 
school salary schedule is not too low, teachers well 
adapted to junior high school work prefer such assign- 
ments even at the regular elementary salary, especially 
if promotion to the senior high school is open to them. 
Cleveland, for example, has adopted for junior high 
school teachers a salary schedule with a maximum of 
$1,200, a figure very much below the maximum attain- 
able in the senior high schools. Even under circum- 
stances where college graduates with pedagogic train- 
ing are entering the elementary school service, those 
who prefer handling older children and teaching chosen 
subjects as specialties, gravitate toward departmental- 
ized upper grade assignments, where they work at 
merely the regular elementary salaries. 

If the three grade junior high school were system- 
atically developed in Boston, there might arise three 
varieties of this school: (1) the junior high school within, 
and attached to, an elementary school district, and in 
charge of a submaster acting under an elementary 
master; (2) the independent or unattached junior high 
school in charge of a submaster reporting directly to an 
assistant superintendent; (3) the junior high school as 
part of, or administratively attached to, a senior high 
school, and in charge of a submaster acting under a 
high or Latin school head master. 



38 City Document No. 87. 

We believe that entirely competent submasters could 
be secured for such schools at the salary paid, to elemen- 
tary submasters; for the way should 4De open for pro- 
motion from these positions into the senior high schools. 
The new junior high submasters' salaries would be 
many times made up by the saving that would occur 
each year as more and more teachers were allotted to 
the junior high schools for the increasing number of 
pupils. 

What the actual saving would be in any year or 
series of years would have to be computed by a tedious 
summing up of the salaries paid to all the individual 
teachers at various points on the salary scale. We may, 
however, get an interesting result for the year 1914-15 
by supposing that all the teachers allotted to first year 
pupils in the high and Latin schools and to classes VI. 
and V. in the Latin schools had been: first, either 
junior masters or assistants (the two most numerous 
high school ranks) at the maximum salary, $2,628 and 
$1,764, respectively; second, elementary junior masters 
(the proposed new class) or master's assistants at a 
common maximum salary of $1,176. In the first sup- 
position every teacher may be regarded as getting the 
average between $2,628 and $1,764, or $2,196, and in 
the second supposition every teacher gets $1,176; so 
that each time a teacher of the latter group replaces 
one of the former group there is a saving of $1,020. 
School Document No. 12, 1915, page 15, reports 
5,764 pupils in the high and Latin schools' first year 
group and classes V. and VI. An allotment of a teacher 
to every 31 of these pupils required 185 teachers; and 
replacing these teachers with $1,176 junior high school 
teachers at a saving of $1,020 per teacher (as shown 
above) would have produced a total saving of $188,700. 
Of course, the saving actually realized in any given 
situation would be reduced if the number of pupils per 
teacher in the new seventh and eighth grade classes 
were reduced, so that more teachers would be required 
for these pupils under the new plan than under the old. 
On the other hand, it cannot be doubted that a large 
saving could be effected at the same time that more 
efficient schooling was being accomplished. Moreover, 
whenever new buildings were put up for the housing of 
junior high schools, the type of building employed 
could be much less expensive than that ordinarily 
adopted for typical city high schools of modern con- 
struction. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 39 

Until the junior high school plan can be put into 
full operation, the possibility of securing relief in certain 
greatly overcrowded districts through the lengthened pro- 
gram in use in the Oakland, California, high school, in cer- 
tain New York City high schools and elsewhere, might 
well be studied. By this plan, pupils come and go in re- 
lays and though a high school building may not be large 
enough to accommodate its full enrollment at any given 
hour, the addition of three or four periods to the usual 
school day enables the school to give an increased num- 
ber of pupils their full quota of recitation periods. This 
plan, where used, is regarded as but a makeshift and it 
is not recommended by the committee as a solution of 
Boston's high school housing problem. 

Still less can the committee at this time recommend 
the adoption by Boston of the so-called Gary duplicate 
plan, either in elementary schools or in high schools. 
Its applicability has not yet been sufficiently tested 
except under the peculiar conditions which obtain in 
the city of moderate size in which it originated. The 
interesting experimentation with the duplicate plan 
which is now going on in a dozen schools in New York 
City should be studied with Boston's needs in mind; but 
since Boston has no part time problem to grapple with, 
the necessity which exists in New York for deciding for 
or against the duplicate plan is not a pressing one here. 
It is by no means certain that the remodeling of existing 
buildings, which would be required to put the Gary 
plan into operation in Boston's numerous schools, 
would be less expensive than as much new construction 
as will keep pace with the annual increase in school 
enrollment. The claims of economy made early in the 
course of New York's interesting experiment are not 
now given foremost place by advocates of the Gary 
system. On the basis of evidence now obtainable the 
committee regards the duplicate plan as administered 
in Gary and New York City as a gigantic educational 
experiment worthy of the most careful study, but as 
not yet having demonstrated its superiority either in 
economy or educational work to the six-three-three plan 
advocated in this report. 

The High School Quota of Teachers. 

The determination of a school's quota of teachers is 
obviously a very important matter. If too few teachers 
are granted, the children's education suffers; if more 



40 City Document No. 87. 

teachers are granted than good management would 
require there is waste. Furthermore, in any situation 
such as Boston now presents, with housing conditions 
in the various high and Latin schools ranging all the- 
way from very good to desperately bad, a given rule for 
determining the quota of teachers in reference to the 
pupil membership may work well in a school well housed, 
but break down in another school w^here bad housing 
necessitates uneconomical classifications of pupils. 

Figures submitted upon the number of teachers in the 
several high and Latin schools in December, 1915, 
showed only four of the fifteen schools with a teaching 
force exactly at the quota; whereas six schools had more 
teachers than the quota allowed (five schools one teacher 
above, one school five teachers above, reduced to two 
in latest report) and four schools had fewer teachers 
then the quota (two schools one below, one school two 
below, one school three below), and the situation in the 
Mechanic Arts School was left unstudied. An intimate 
study of this question of the supply of teachers in the 
secondary schools would be necessary before one could 
be justified in passing final judgment upon the matter, 
but the foregoing figures suggest that the rule for deter- 
mining the quota of teachers to be allowed the high and 
Latin schools may be in need of revision. 

High School Oeganization. 

Data concerning the organization of the high and 
Latin schools were submitted in the form of various 
reports from the several head masters. All these 
reports have been examined. Taken altogether they 
seem to demonstrate that the masters are not equally 
skillful and economical in school management, and 
that their assignments of work to their subordinates are 
widely and unnecessarily uneven, although the class 
room accommodations in each building would have to 
be taken into account in arriving at a fair judgment 
upon the master's management. Two topics were 
singled out for particular consideration; the question of 
heads of departments, and the size of classes (teaching 
sections) and assignment of work to teachers. 

To a considerable extent the present head master is 
not responsible for the heads of departments he now 
has; some of them he simply inherited when he became 
head master. A study of the number and personnel of 
the present heads of departments shows that the group 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 41 

consists of "masters, heads of departments" (men) and 
"first assistants, heads of departments" (women), and 
that the total of these heads of departments in Decem- 
ber, 1915, was 90. One expects the title, rank and 
salary of a head of department to be given only to a 
specially selected executive assistant to the principal, 
and the chief function of the head of department should 
be to organize and unify the wotk of the department 
and supervise the class room instruction of the sub- 
ordinate teachers, the assumption being that a head of 
department will not be needed until there are at least 
three teachers working together in a given field, so that 
when one of them is made head of department there 
will remain not fewer than two subordinate teachers. 
Of the 90 present heads of departments a considerable 
number seem to be not at all properly so designated, 
and in answer to the question how many heads of 
departments are heads of fields of study represented by 
fewer than 60 periods per week, the head masters report 
20 such heads of departments. The issue here raised is 
met quite frankly by certain head masters. One wrote: 
"the 'heads of departments' are also 'first assistants' 
and were appointed as such by reason of their superior 
worth as experienced and efficient teachers." Another 
head master wrote: "the appointment of heads of 
departments was largely on a seniority basis." If not 
only capacity for executive and supervisory assistance 
but also superior merit as a teacher and even mere 
seniority may determine promotion to the rank of head 
of department, an unnecessary number of persons may 
be advanced to this highest paid class under the head 
mastership. That this situation has actually arisen had 
been recognized, and that steps have been taken toward 
correcting it, appears in the rule to the effect that, as 
present incumbents of the headship of department are 
eliminated, a school shall have no more than four heads 
of departments except as additional heads may be 
required for departments having not less than 60 periods 
of instruction per week. In the meantime the unneces- 
sary heads of departments in some instances prevent a 
school from securing one or more needed heads of 
department. One head master, for example, has his full 
quota of six heads of departments, including two or three 
unnecessary heads (one, the "department of ancient 
languages," no longer necessary because "Greek has 
passed away, tho' Latin lingers moribund"), while he 
cannot get a needed head of department of English 



42 City Document No. 87. 

because his quota of heads is filled. It is the opinion 
of this committee that the headship of department 
should involve functions of a distinctly executive and 
supervisory character; that only persons capable of 
rendering this sort of assistance to the head master 
should be made heads of departments, and that such 
headships should lapse by rule whenever they become 
unnecessary either from the shrinkage of instruction in 
a given department or from other circumstances. If 
such a rule were now in operation the head master last 
cited would not find himself and his school embarrassed 
by both a superabundance and a deficit of heads of 
departments. 

Whether or not the head master's organization of 
classes is in all cases as economical as it might be under 
the circumstances could be determined only by a 
detailed study of the ''special reports on day high and 
Latin school organization," the teachers' "daily pro- 
gram," cards and the written statements concerning 
classification and assignments to teachers. It is quite 
apparent, however, even without such a time-consum- 
ing examination, that there is wide variation in the 
size of classes both between one school and another 
and within a given school. Instances occur where in the 
same school one teacher's largest class is smaller than 
another teacher's smallest class, and in these cases the 
instructional ''loads" in pupil-hours per week that the 
two teachers are carrying will be widely apart. There 
is indeed a surprisingly wide range seen in the item of 
each teacher's pupil-hours per week as one follows this 
column through the reports of the fifteen schools. If 
the New York estimate of 660 to 720 pupil-hours per 
week is accepted as the proper range for teachers' 
assignments of instruction in large city high schools, a 
considerable number of the Boston teachers have 
received assignments very much outside the range in 
both directions. One school, for example, shows 11 of 
the 20 regular teachers carrying assignments below 660 
pupil-hours per week. Report needs to be made also of 
the fact that quite a number of very small classes are 
formed, in spite of the extravagant use of teachers' 
time involved in this practice. One of the smaller schools 
reports classes of only 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9 pupils, and 
this is just the school with next to the highest per 
capita cost, $100.83 (only the Mechanic Arts School 
being higher), in the Business Agent's report of 1915. 
Instead of attempting to conduct such small groups as 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 43 

separate classes it would be far more economical, and 
educationally better for the pupils in many cases, to 
transfer them to other schools where average sized 
classes in the desired subjects are to be found. Cer- 
tainly in the interest of reasonable economy, if the 
smaller schools (membership 500 to 800 pupils) are to 
enjoy the same high salaries, including the scheduled 
head master's salary running to $4,068, as are paid in 
the largest schools (membership over 2,000 pupils), it 
will be entirely justifiable to limit costs by placing cer- 
tain restrictions upon the organization of these smaller 
schools. Not only might such schools be required to 
eliminate very small classes, but the head masters 
might be asked to teach one or two periods a day (as, 
in fact, one of these head masters does) and to act as 
head of one or more of the departments; and, indeed, 
such relatively small schools might be required to have 
but few if any heads of departments except titular heads, 
and the range of elective studies in these schools might 
with propriety be greatly restricted as compared with 
the elections easily and economically handled in the 
large schools. 

Salaries and Supply or Teachers. 

According to the present high school salary schedule 
Boston appears to be more generous to high school 
teachers than are other cities of the 550,000 to 750,000 
class; for example, St. Louis, Cleveland, Baltimore and 
Pittsburgh. Schedules just received from these four 
cities show the following: 

St. Louis High Schools. 

Principal. — $3,500; annual increase $100 to maximum, $4,000. 
Assistant Principal. — $2,150; annual increases $150, $100 and 

$200 to maximum, $3,000. 
Head Assistant. — ■ $2,000; annual increases $40, 60 and $80 to 

maximum, $2,180. 
First Assistant — $1,640; annual increases $60 and $100 to 

maximum, $2,000. 
Second Assistant. — $1,120; annual increases $60 and $100 to 

maximum, $1,640. 
Substitute Assistant. — $980, first year; $1,020, second year. 

Cleveland High Schools. 

Principal. — (Central High School and East Technical High), 

$3,500. 
Principal of other High Schools. — $3,000. 



44 City Document No. 87. 

High School Teachers: 

Fifth Class. — S2,100; annual increase $100 to maximum, 

$2,300. 
Fourth Class. — $1,900; annual increase $100 to' maximum, 

$2,000. '^- 

Third Class. — $1,000; annual increase third and fourth 

years $100 to maximum, $1,800. 
Second Class. — $1,300; annual increase third and sixth 

years $100 to. maximum, $1,500. 
First Class. — $1,000; annual increase $100 to maximum, 

$1,200. 

Pittsburgh High Schools. 

High School Principal: 

Four-year Course. — $2,500; annual increase $100 to maxi- 
muin, $3,000. 

Less than four-year course. — $2,000; annual increase $100 
to maximum, $2,500. 
High School Teachers: 

College graduates.- — $1,000; annual increase $100 to maxi- 
mum, $2,300. 

Noncollege graduates. — $1,000; annual increase $100 to 
maximum, $1,800. 

Baltimore High Schools. 

Principal— $3,000. 
Vice-Principal— $2,200. 
Teachers: 

Boys' High Schools. — $1,000; to assistant teacher maxi- 
mum of $1,800. Head of department, maximum of $2,000. 

Girls' High Schools.— $700; to maximum of $1,200. 

In comparison with the foregoing schedules Boston 
has the following : 

Boston High and Latin Schools. 

Head Master. — $3,204; annual increase $144 to maximum, 

$4,068. 
Master, Head of Department. — $2,340; annual increase $144 to 

maximum, $3,204. 
Junior Master. — $1,476; annual increase $144 to maximum, 

$2,628. 
First Assistant, Head of Department. — $1,332; annual increase 

$72 to maxinmm, $1,980. 
AssistaiiL — $972; annual increase $72 to maximum, $1,764. 
Junior Assistant. — $804, first year; $900, second year. 
Industrial instructors, etc., not considered. 

Baltimore is, of course, to be regarded as paying unduly 
low salaries; but it is altogether fair to compare Boston 
with St. Louis, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. Further- 
more, in the section of this report dealing comprehen- 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 45 

sively with expenditures for school purposes, Boston is 
shown to rank high among the large cities in salaries 
paid both to secondary teachers and to secondary 
principals. On the other hand, to make proper com- 
parisons between Boston salaries and the salaries paid 
in other cities, one would need to note exactly which 
salary ranks in each city are open to both men and 
women and what are the requirements for admission 
to each rank, and also to compare adequately the living 
conditions in the selected cities. Until this is done nn 
detailed recommendation as to the salary schedule should 
be offered, although the data submitted in the present 
report suggest that it may not be improper to revise 
downward the higher salaries of the high and Latin 
schools' schedule with the exception of the headmaster- 
ships of the few schools having the largest pupil member- 
ship. In one item, however, an immediate recommenda- 
tion seems to be in order; to advance men junior 
assistants from $900 to the present junior master mini- 
mum of $1,470 seems an absolutely unnecessary leap. We 
recommend that the first increase for men after $900 be 
$144, so that either a new class beginning at $1,044 will 
be inserted below junior master, or junior masters will 
hereafter begin at $1,044. 

To the problem of securing for the high schools a 
proper supply of competent teachers enough attention 
was devoted to note three points. First, the way ought 
to be made easy for excellent experienced teachers from 
the outside to get into the city high school service, and to 
this end a rule should be drafted to allow credit for 
experience elsewhere, so that a teacher of experience, 
appointed to a given rank, would not have to drop back 
in salary to begin at the minimum of that rank. Second, 
good nonresident students ought to be encouraged to 
enter the Normal School, and to this end the tuition 
should be only about a hundred dollars, instead of being 
placed at the present Normal School per capita cost of 
over two hundred dollars. It is noticeable that, as the 
Normal School tuition was raised, the number of non- 
resident students decreased, until at present there are 
none in attendance. Third, the good of the children 
and the proper safeguarding of city funds require that 
tenure of position shall not be so over-secure as to permit 
teachers to feel they are, when once appointed', in position 
for life, regardless of the quality of the service they are 
rendering. Wherever the removal of incompetent or 
indifferent teachers is made troublesome and difhcult, or 



46 City Document No. 87. 

even, as sometimes happens, almost if not quite impos- 
sible, the schools are burdened with just as many such 
undesirables as can manage to squeeze through the 
appointment tests. 

The Secondary Curriculum. 

Two aspects of the high school programs of studies 
were considered: The working of the system of elective 
studies, and the new commercial courses. 

As to the Boston high school elective system it seems 
likely that this may now be advantageously modified in 
the direction of having pupil elect one of several more 
or less definitely formulated curricula, instead of taking 
in each year a few prescribed "constants" and then 
choosing freely from a long list of ''electives. " It is 
probable that such a modification would helpfully guide 
pupils' elections and check the making of erratic indi- 
vidual programs; that it would considerably simplify 
for most of the head masters the problem of schedule 
making and permit a more even classification, and that 
it w^ould equalize the work of teachers and reduce expense 
by reducing somewhat the number of teachers required; 
for, as the elections become less variable, the pupils can 
be classified more and more into relatively or even 
absolutely homogeneous recitation sections with a 
decrease of the number of under-average sections that 
have to be formed. 

Such consideration as was possible under the limita- 
tions of our study was given to the new courses in the 
field of training for commerce. Undoubtedly a very 
interesting and praiseworthy attempt is being made to 
meet the actual business conditions that commercial 
graduates will face, and definite curriculum adjust- 
ments in this direction are seen in the threefold differ- 
entiation of the commercial instruction into a ''secre- 
tarial course," an "accounting course," and a "mer- 
chandising course." Of these newer developments the 
"merchandising course," with its school instruction and 
store practice in "salesmanship," is to be regarded as at 
present in a merely experimental stage, so that improve- 
ments will be effected as rapidly as experience teaches 
what had best be done. In the opinion of the committee 
it would be unfortunate if this piece of educational 
pioneering were not given the full support it deserves. 

Most careful attention, however, should be given to 
the "practice work" in the store assignments to which 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 47 

selected boys and girls are sent, and to what the teachers 
in schools are doing at the same time with the pupils 
left behind as long as any are left. If the director of 
practice, or head of department, in salesmanship is not 
properly alert, the stores may place high school pupils 
in positions where the work is purely mechanical or 
automatic and altogether uneducative. If the head 
master is not properly alert, certain teachers will be 
more or less idle when many pupils are in the stores, or 
else these teachers will be merely marking time in 
school with the pupils not selected for store assignments, 
so as to keep such pupils from getting ahead of their 
"practicing" classmates in the academic lessons. It 
seems likely that the coordination of school and store 
can advantageously work toward the plan of having 
equal groups of pupils alternate between class room 
study and store work, replacing each other at the end 
of weekly or fortnightly periods; so that, in so far as 
commercial practice takes place within school hours, 
both the store positions and the school class rooms will 
be filled, and no teachers will be idle, nor need class 
instruction be deliberately retarded. This situation, of 
course, would raise new problems of its own; for example, 
whether the total of school instruction received under 
this alternating plan would be sufficient to fulfill the 
promotion and graduation requirements, and how to 
meet the store's call for extra help at rush seasons and 
on bargain days. In the meantime it is questionable 
whether selection for store assignments should turn 
largely or wholly upon ''rank in studies"; for it may 
be argued that all pupils, sometimes the unacademic, 
just because they are unacademic, should have the 
privilege of practice if assignments can be obtained for 
them. It may be further questioned whether as much 
emphasis should be placed upon the store earnings of 
pupils in salesmanship courses as seems to be given to 
this item by some of the persons developing the work. 
Dwelling over much upon this feature might cause to 
flock to these courses pupils whose motive is present 
dollars rather than future efficiency in commerce, and 
this department of the schools might be in danger of 
degenerating into an employment agency for minors in 
temporary holiday, vacation and bargain counter jobs. 
It is to be fully understood, however, that these comments 
are submitted merely as points of caution to be observed 
in the conduct of a meritorious educational enterprise. 



48 City Document No. 87. 



CHAPTER IV.— SPECIAL DEPARTMENTS. 



A study of the special activities in the public schools 
of Boston shows the individual departments well organ- 
ized and administered, but they are not properly cor- 
related. At the present time there are fifteen depart- 
ments, each in charge of a special supervisor. There 
are two objections to such a scheme of organization: 

1. Correlation between similar departments is ren- 
dered difficult. It is an educational waste unless designs 
made in the free-hand drawing classes are applied in the 
manual training classes or sewing classes. Pre-voca- 
tional training should establish cooperative relations 
with trade school instruction. Physical training has not 
accomplished its purpose unless it takes into account 
the physical defects revealed by medical inspection. 

2. It is not profitable to occupy the time of a high- 
priced executive in conference with a large number of 
department heads when the same purpose can be 
accomplished by meeting a smaller number. It is prob- 
ably wise, however, when an activity is first established, 
to place it under the direct supervision of the Super- 
intendent until it is worked out in accordance with his 
central plan. It then may be turned over to one of the 
other departments. 

The following is suggested as a tentative grouping: 

I. Practice and Training 
II. Promotion and Educational Measurement. 

III. Physical Welfare. 

This department would include school physicians 
and nurses, athletics, playgrounds, special sub- 
normal classes, open-air classes, cripples' classes, 
and classes for speech, ear and eye defectives. 

IV. Industrial Arts and Household Arts. 

This group would consist of manual training, draw- 
ing, cooking and sewing. In a portion of the field 
the head of the department would serve only in 
an executive capacity, as no one person is likely to 
be familiar with the four lines of work in detail. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 49 

V. Evening and Summer Schools. 
VI. Community Centers. 

VII. Trade training, . Pre-vocational, Part Time and Con- 
tinuation Schools, and evening trade extension. 
This department would include industrial classes, 
salesmanship and work in vocational guidance. 
VIII. Primary and Kindergarten Supervisors. 

Such a department as this would be a unifying force 
and serve to put into effect the policies of the 
Superintendent with respect to the primary schools. 
It would bridge the gap between the kindergarten 
and the first grade. Without such supervision 
school districts tend to separate and some central 
supervision is necessary to prevent this tendency. 
IX. Music. 

As at present organized. 
X. Attendance Department and Census. 

This would include truant work, supervision of 
working papers and the permanent continuing 
work of census. 

Meeting the department heads in informal confer- 
ences, the Superintendent could shape up departments 
in an efficient manner and avoid waste and duplication 
of effort. From time to time he would undoubtedly 
delegate certain responsibilities in these fields to assistant 
superintendents. 

This is not a question of finance. While minor sav- 
ings might be effected it is doubtful if the proposed 
regrouping would result in any considerable change in 
the total expenditure. It is purely a question of effective 
organization, enabling the Superintendent to direct the 
work of the respective departments in an efficient 
manner. On another page certain economies are 
suggested. 

In discussing the respective departments tables of 
comparative costs are given in some instances. While 
these statistics are valuable in showing the policy of the 
cities given, they should not be regarded as exact 
guides, since variation in methods of school accounting 
make such figures misleading when applied to small 
departments. Conditions which justify a seemingly 
large expenditure for a certain activity in one city may 
not exist in another city, and even a proportionate 
expenditure would be wholly unjustifiable. 



50 City Document No. 87. 



Department of Practice and Training. 

This department consists of a director and five 
assistants, upon whom rest varied, responsibilities. 
Upon the director devolves the following duties: 

1. Preparation of the pay roll for all temporary 
teaching service in the city. 

2. Assignment and supervision of senior assistants 
in the high school. 

3. Assignment of all long-term substitutes and tem- 
porary teachers. Two hundred thirty-seven were 
assigned during the week preceding the opening of school. 

4. Assignment of all practice work in the system. 

5. Supervision of substitutes, temporary teachers, 
and practice work in cooperation with the assistant 
directors. 

6. Six periods weekly of class room instruction in 
educational theory at the Normal School. 

Working in cooperation with the director, the five 
assistants supervise the substitutes and temporary 
teachers and follow closely the work of the practice 
teachers. The conclusions reached by the director and 
assistants from these visits determine the rating given 
prospective teachers prior to appointment on probation. 
This work is of exceeding importance as the schools are 
dependent upon the accurate judgment of the director 
in avoiding the appointment of incompetent teachers to 
positions in the Boston schools. 

Ability to teach and teach efficiently constitutes the 
only claim which a teacher has a right to urge in sup- 
port of her application for appointment. No method of 
ascertaining this fact has ever been devised so sure of 
success as the direct observation of the teachers' work 
in her own class room. 

This department is handling a large and vitally impor- 
tant problem. Its independence should be safeguarded 
and it should receive liberal financial support. 

Department of Educational Investigation and 
Measurement. 

The work of the Department of Educational Inves- 
tigation and Measurement is, in the opinion of the 
committee, well organized and of very great value 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 51 

to the school system. The work already accomplished 
in measuring the achievements of children, and 
in developing a standard of work available for both 
children and for teachers, will, in our opinion, do much 
to increase the efficiency of the school system The 
method following in determining merit upon the part of 
those eligible for promotion in the school system, makes 
possible intelligent action by the Superintendent of 
Schools in the nominations which he makes to the 
School Committee. The revision of the elementary 
school courses of study has already provided an oppor- 
tunity for most significant cooperation upon the part 
of teachers and supervisors in this important undertak- 
ing. The head of this department is in all of his work 
directly responsible to the Superintendent, and in the 
degree to which he is efficient he increases the efficiency 
of the Superintendent of Schools as the chief executive 
officer, and at the same time the efficiency of the whole 
school system. This department has, in the judgment 
of the committee, already given ample evidence of 
its worth to the school system, and of the added 
returns which may be expected should larger support be 
provided. 

Physical Welfare (School Hygiene). 

Boston was the first city in the country to recognize 
the supreme importance of preventing the tremendous 
waste due to physical defects, and in 1894 established a 
system of medical inspection under the control of the 
Board of Health. Originally it was instituted to detect 
contagious diseases in order to prevent their spread 
among school children. Today it includes not only 
the discovery of contagious diseases but it attempts to 
determine incipient physical defects which interfere 
with the ability of the child to profit from school instruc- 
tion. Broadly speaking, it works in two fields, the 
preventive and the remedial, and of these the first is 
the more important. 

Relative Number of Inspectors and Pupils. 

One of the vital questions is whether 41 physicians 
and 38 nurses, the number now employed, are sufficient 
to care adequately for the health of the children in the 



52 City Document No. 87. 

Boston public schools, enrolling, in 1914-15, 120,846 
pupils. Terman, of Leland Stanford University, gives 
the following number as the proper quota : 

1 Medical director, full time. 

1 Assistant medical inspector, one-half time, for 6,000 elemen- 
tary children. 

1 Woman physician, full time, for 800 to 1,200 high school 
girls. 

1 Man physician, full time, for 800 to 1,200 high school boys. 

1 Nurse, full time, for 2,000 elementary children. 

1 Dentist, half time, for 10,000 pupils. 

1 Eye, ear, nose and throat specialist, half time, for 10,000 
pupils. 

According to this statement Boston would require on 
a conservative basis: 

1 Director, full time. 
10 Assistant directors, full time. 

8 Women physicians, full time, for high school girls. 

7 Men physicians, full time, for high school boys. 
50 Nurses. 

6 Dentists, full time. 

6 Eye, ear and throat specialists, full time. 

The necessity for the employment of dentists in 
Boston is obviated by the adequate provision for this 
work by the Forsyth Dental Infirmary and similar 
institutions. 

It would appear that Boston is providing to a reason- 
able degree for carrying on this important work. The 
experience of other cities, however, indicates the wisdom 
of employing fewer doctors and increasing the number 
of nurses. 

Relative Costs. 

Boston is securing this professional service at rela- 
tively small cost. Terman estimates the necessary 
total cost of adequate medical supervision at from 75 
cents to $1 for each school child. Using the smaller 
amount this would represent a total cost to the city of 
over $90,000. Basing his conclusions on the returns 
from 25 cities in New England, New York and New 
Jersey, Rapeer finds that .011 per cent of the total school 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 53 

budget is devoted to medical inspection. On this basis 
Boston would spend for the department approximately 
$60,000. 

For the year ending January 31, 1915, the actual 
expenditure for nurses in Boston was $31,210. If the 
physicians now employed at salaries totaling $30,500 
were included the department would be maintained at 
an expense of $61,710. 

The amount suggested by Terman is a more satisfac- 
tory standard for Boston since many of the cities 
included in the Rapeer hst are conducting the work 
in an inadequate manner. 

Clearly there should be no reduction in the scope of 
the work in Boston. The tendency must be toward an 
extension rather than a curtailment of the cost of the 
department if the city is to hold a foremost position in 
this respect among other cities in the country. 

In common with other cities, Boston has made pro- 
vision for various types of children who by reason of 
physical disability need to be taught in separate classes. 

Classes for the Deaf. 

Probably .5 per cent of school children are afflicted 
with defective hearing to such an extent that they hear 
little or nothing of what is said in the class room. 
Returns vary greatly from different cities. 

Brockton, Mass., reports 1.8 per cent; Meriden, 
Conn., .4 per cent; Hoboken, N. J., .7 per cent; 
Newark, N. J., .6 per cent. Dr. Thomas Wood estimates 
that over .5 per cent of all children have defective 
hearing to a greater or less degree. 

Whatever the number, due regard for their welfare 
necessitates some provision other than that made in 
classes for normal children. This is done in the Horace 
Mann School, where 15 classes with an average attend- 
ance of 124 receive a training designed to prepare them 
to earn a living wage. The school is partly supported 
by the state and constitutes no serious burden upon the 
city. It seems likely that more children should be 
placed in this school than are now enrolled. Terman 
estimates that one child in 300 is too deaf to benefit 
from ordinary class teaching. For Boston this means 
that 350 children need to be placed in special schools of 



54 



City Document No. 87. 



the type of the Horace j\Iann. The number would be 
ncreased to about 500 on the basis of the reports of the 
cities given above. 

For the sake of comparison the cost of teachers' 
salaries, including principal in schools for the deaf, is 
given for three representative cities. 



City. 


Number 

of 
Classes. 


Total 

Average 

Attendance. 


Teachers' 
Salaries, 
Including 
Principal. 


Per Capita 
Teachers' 
Salaries. 


Boston 


15 

7 
5 


124 
57 
51 


$23,179 
8,092 
6,936 


$186 92 


Newark 


141 96 


St. Loiiis 


136 00 



Classes for Children with Speech Defects. 

The classes for stammerers organized in Boston in 
1912 are designed to aid children to overcome this 
serious physical handicap. Experts estimate the num- 
ber of children needing special treatment for speech 
defects at from 1 per cent to 1.8 per cent of the total 
enrollment. In Boston a conservative policy has been 
followed, as only four teachers have been provided with 
a total enrollment of about 350 pupils. The demand is 
indicated by the fact that some 250 are on the waiting 
list. Pupils report to the teachers in small sections 
twice a week and are given special drills for an hour and 
a half. The Superintendent reports that 75 per cent of 
the 93 children under treatment the first year are per- 
manently cured. 

Open-Air Classes. 

In common with other cities Boston has recognized 
the wisdom of establishing open-air classes for children 
of tubercular tendencies. Expert medical judgment 
amply corroborated by actual experience has established 
conclusively the fact that such treatment will save 
under-nourished and anaemic children from tubercular 
infection. 

The proper equipment of class rooms and the treat- 
ment for pupils in those classes is as completely stand- 
ardized as for normal classes. The weight of authority, 
both of medical and educational experts, sanctions the 
following procedure: 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



55 



1. Classes should be housed in small buildings in 
parks, school yards, or on the roof of the regular school. 

2. The rooms should be open on three sides with 
movable windows or canvas curtains that can be closed 
to protect the children from severe wind or inclement 
weather. Additional sunlight is sometimes provided by- 
skylights in the roof. 

3. Pupils should be assigned to these classes only 
after a careful examination by the medical inspector. 

4. Movable furniture should be provided and also 
additional clothing and warm food three times daily. 

5. The program should allow for frequent rest 
periods and for an hour's sleep in the middle of the day. 
This necessitates a well ventilated room provided with 
cots and heavy blankets. 

6. Sufficient time should be devoted to follow-up 
work by the nurse to insure the effective cooperation of 
the home. 

7. Classes should be small, enrolling approximately 
25 children, and should be restricted to two or three 
grades. 

Recent investigations indicate that the results of 
creating open-air classes by opening windows on two 
sides of the ordinary class room are decidedly less satis- 
factory than those obtained from rooms entirely open 
on three sides. 

Inevitably the cost of such classes is more than that 
of the ordinary class, but it is fully justified if the 
health and lives of children are taken into consideration. 
Whatever the immediate cost there is an ultimate saving 
to the community, as many of these children would 
finally become a far greater charge upon the public 
treasury. 

In comparison with other cities the per capita cost for 
teachers' salaries in Boston is certainly reasonable. 



CiTT. 


Number of 
Teachers. 


Average 
Attendance. 


Total 
Teachers' 
Salaries. 


Per Capita 
Salaries. 


Boston 


16 
3 

7 
4 


434 

130 
157 

86 


$12,585 
5,255 
4,400 
3,661 


$28 99 


Newark 


40 43 


St. Louis 


28 03 


Rochester 


42 57 



56 City Document No. 87. 

Semi-Blind Children. 

A number of pupils so afflicted are to be found in 
every large school system. The totally blind are prob- 
ably best cared for in institutions, but the responsibility 
for those with partial sight rests squarely upon the 
public schools. Methods of instruction must vary 
according to circumstances, but it must always be largely 
a matter of individual teaching. Eighteen children are 
now being taught in the Boston schools by two teachers. 
Newark, New Jersey, with approximately half the 
enrollment, provides two teachers for eleven children, 
blind and semi-blind. 

Physical Training and Recreation. 

The general direction of these activities is in charge 
of three supervisors with 22 assistants. One of these 
assistants is assigned to the Normal School where 
instruction is given in the theory and practice of physi- 
cal training to nearly 200 students. Instruction of this 
character is an essential part of the training of teachers 
w^ho ultimately are to take their places in the regular 
class rooms of the city. The remaining 21 instructors 
carry on the actual teaching in the secondary schools 
of the city and also supervise the physical training in 
the elementary schools. Each instructor devotes approx- 
imately four days per week to the actual teaching of 
high school classes and one day to the supervision of the 
elementary schools. 

In the high schools physical training is compulsory 
and two diploma points each year are given towards 
graduation. 

In the elementary school the department touches 
2,095 teachers, directly affecting 93,772 children. The 
course of study is in harmony with the best practice of 
the most progressive school systems. 

Athletics. ■ 

The junior masters in the high schools serve as athletic 
instructors in addition to their regular work and the 
submasters serve the elementary schools in the same 
capacity. A small additional compensation is granted 
for this service, the junior masters receiving $3 and the 
submasters $1.50 from the close of school until about 
5.30 p. m. These teachers are selected because of their 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 57 

knowledge and experience in the different sports, all 
having played on high school or college teams. The 
scheme is a most admirable solution of the perplexing 
question of athletic coaching. The boys know and 
respect the instructor, while he, more thoroughly than 
any outsider, understands the capacity and limitations 
of the individual students. Most important of all, these 
instructors are permanently in the employ of the schools 
and the character of their work can be shaped in har- 
mony with the general policy of the Superintendent. 
The comparatively small cost of this service makes it 
possible to employ an adequate number to supervise 
closely the work in athletics. Sixty teachers are engaged 
in this work for the elementary schools and eleven for 
the high schools. There is a sufficient number of ath- 
letic fields (40) to accommodate every school district, 
and every boy who is physically able is encouraged to 
participate in football, baseball, track or soccer. 

Playgrounds. 

Seventy-nine playgrounds located in school yards 
and parks are open to the children of the city. A wise 
policy has limited the apparatus to swings, tilts, slides, 
sand tables and other simple equipment. A unique 
feature of the playground system is the setting aside of 
small areas for ''children's corners." These are usually 
fenced in and are reserved for the use of women and 
girls and boys under twelve. The average daily attend- 
ance at the park playgrounds was 8,747, and at the 
school playgrounds 3,942. 

Costs. 

The total expenditure in 1914-15 for physical train- 
ing, athletics, military drill and playground activities 
was $81,031, or approximately 1.5 per cent of the cost 
of maintenance. Considering playgrounds alone the 
cost per pupil per session was SO. 01 for park playgrounds 
and $0,017 for school playgrounds. In view of the 
supreme importance of the conservation of child health 
it is doubtful if any other expenditure made by the 
School Department paid equal dividends upon the 
investment. 

Special Classes. 

One of the serious problems confronting every school 
department is the question of the proper care of mentally 



58 City Document No. 87. 

defective children. It is generally recognized that their 
presence in regular class rooms constitutes a serious 
handicap both upon the teacher and the normal child. 
All authorities are agreed that the number of children 
of this type is from 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent of the 
total enrollment. On the 1.5 per cent basis, Boston, 
with an enrollment of 102,270 in the elementary schools 
and kindergartens, may be expected to have over 1,500 
children in need of special instruction. In 1914-15, 48 
such classes were in operation with a membership of 707. 
As many more were on the waiting list, but owing to 
lack of room were retained in the regular classes. 

Plan of Organization. 

The department is in charge of a special supervisor 
whose entire attention is given to the problem of organ- 
izing classes and adapting the courses of study and 
methods of instruction to the needs of the different 
groups. The policy of the department is to segregate 
children in those classes at as early an age as their low 
mentality can be determined. 

Single classes are formed in the different schools for 
small children and at the age of 12 or 13 many of 
them are transferred to a central school. Boston now 
has a school of this character for girls, with 75 enrolled 
in six rooms and a similar school for boys with an enroll- 
ment of 685. These two schools are not sufficient to 
care for all mentally defective adolescents. All such 
adolescents should be grouped in special schools or 
classes under pre-vocational administration. 

Who Are Included. 

The selection of pupils for special classes is practically 
limited to morons and high-grade imbeciles. Idiots and 
low-grade imbeciles are not admitted as these are 
supposed to be cared for in state institutions. Children 
from seven to twelve years of age physically with a 
mentahty three to five years below age are selected. 
Every care is taken to prevent the classes from becoming 
a dumping-ground for truants and incorrigibles. 

How Selected. 

The teacher reports all suspected cases to the super- 
visor, who often puts them under observation for a con- 
siderable time. Every case is finally tested by the 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 59 

psychological expert employed for this purpose. The 
tests are a combination of the Binet, Healy and certain 
other tests prepared by the department expert. When 
finally approved for one of the special groups the child 
must enter the class and remain there. 

Teachers. 

Like all new problems the problem of the subnormal 
child finds those who are called upon to solve it with an 
inadequate training for the purpose. This difficulty is 
experienced in Boston as in every other city, and is met 
in practically the same manner. Those teachers who 
seem best fitted for this special work are asked to qualify. 
The supervisor follows the plan of placing a prospective 
teacher in charge of a group of 15 and associating her 
with an experienced special class teacher. This enables 
her to learn from experience and observation the best 
methods of meeting the problems peculiar to the position, 
and if she proves suited to the work she is ultimately 
given a regular appointment. 

Conclusions. 

1. The number of special classes is inadequate to 
provide accommodations for the larger number of 
children who are in need of this particular type of 
training. 

2. Classes for these children as well as all classes for 
pupils with special defects should be under the general 
supervision of the department having in charge the 
physical welfare of the schools. 

3. Adolescent children of defective mentality should 
be segregated and placed under pre-vocational adminis- 
tration. 

4. The rules of the Board should be amended to 
allow pupils to sell shop products from special classes, 
and after deducting the cost of materials the balance 
should be paid to the pupils. 

5. The School Department in Boston is fully alive 
to the importance of the conservation of the health of 
school children. The necessary departments have been 
created and type classes established to realize this 
desirable purpose. 

6. Medical inspection together with all other agencies 
for the promotion of health should be associated in a 
single department. 



60 City Document No. 87. 

7. The chief emphasis should be placed upon the 
work of the school nurse rather than that of the school 
physician. An increase in the number of nurses 
employed is desirable, even if it is secured by &, reduction 
in the number of doctors; one physician to two nurses 
is a satisfactory^ ratio. 

8. It is doubtful if adequate provisions are made for 
the deaf, semi-blind and children in need of open-air 
treatment. 

9. The general plan for physical training and recrea- 
tion is sound. Compulsory athletics for all high school 
pupils is especially worthy of commendation. 

10. Development of playground activities should be 
limited only by the most urgent financial considerations. 
The city can afford to pay and pay liberally to provide 
the most ample playground facilities for all children. 

Industrial Arts and Household Arts. 

In Boston the manual activities of both high and 
elementary schools are under the control of a director 
in charge of drawing and an associate director respon- 
sible for manual training. Two department instructors 
are assigned to the direct supervision of the work in the 
class rooms. A single supervisor directs the work in 
cooking and sewing. This constitutes a separate depart- 
ment with only incidental coordination with the others. 
The same situation prevails with respect to drawing. 
The director is held responsible for its efficiency and little 
or no attempt is made to correlate the work with the 
manual training. 

The requirements of the course of study are as follows : 

Drawing. Compulsor}^ in Grades I. — -VIII. 

Elective in High School except in the first year of Com- 
mercial High. 
Manual Training. 

Boys and girls. Grades I. — III. Paper-cutting, folding, etc. 

Boys. Grade IV. Cardboard. 
Grade V. Bookbinding. 
Grades VI., VII., VIII. Woodworking. 

Girls. Grades IV., V., VI. Sewing. 
Grades VIL, VIII. Cooking. 

Number of Teachers. 

Drawing Supervisors 8 

]\Ianual Training Instructors * 63 

Sewing Instructors 56 

Cookery Instructors 42 

♦Exclusive of pre-vocational centers and high schools. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



61 



Drawing. 

The eight drawing teachers supervise the drawing for 
the entire city and in addition give instruction in drawing 
to twenty-three classes in the Normal School. This 
requires an equivalent of four days a week for a single 
supervisor. With the increasing emphasis placed upon 
the adequate training of prospective teachers the 
Normal work is requiring more and more time, and it 
would seem desirable to appoint a regular teacher of 
drawing at the Normal School who could give her entire 
attention to this work. 

The eight tea'chers of drawing have the responsibility 
of nearly 95,000 pupils with 2,095 teachers. This means 
the supervision of approximately 250 teachers in from 
seven to ten schools for each instructor. The chief 
function of instructors is the interpretation of the 
printed course of study to the class room teacher with 
help upon especial problems as the need arises. 

The plan as outlined above is sound in theory and 
merits no adverse criticism. It is evident that the 
magnitude of the work under the present organization 
requires a supervisory force equal to that which is now 
maintained. Under the proposed junior high school 
plan some reduction would be possible. 

Cooking. 

Cooking is required of the seventh and eighth grade 
girls but over-age girls of lower grades are allowed 
to enter the classes. Eight thousand three hundred 
thirty-five girls are instructed in the school kitchens for 
two hours per week. This time allowance is a third 
greater than in the judgment of this committee is neces- 
sary when the length of the course is taken into con- 
sideration. Under present arrangements each cooking 
teacher meets two groups for a two-hour period each, 
making her teaching day four hours in length. If the 
length of the cooking lesson were reduced to an hour and 
a half and the teacher met three groups daily instead 
of two groups a substantial saving would be effected. 
This is apparent from the following tables: 





Number of 
Pupils. 


Average 

Number of 

Pupils in 

Class. 


Number of 
Classes 
per Day. 


Number of 

Hours 
per Day. 


Teachers 
Required. 




8,335 
8,335 


20 
20 


2 
3 


4 
4^ 


42 




27 







62 City Document No. 87. 

This would release fifteen teachers whose services 
might be utilized in the needed extension of pre-voca- 
tional work. 

This reduction in time devoted to cookery need not 
cause a corresponding reduction in the amount of work 
accomplished by the pupil if good planning, promptness 
and vigor characterize the work. It represents, how- 
ever, a substantial saving in the expense of the depart- 
ment and gives the pupil more time for other subjects. 

Sewing. 

Three years are devoted to sewing, beginning in the 
fourth grade. Very wisely the older girls of lower 
grades are enrolled, making the total number receiving 
instruction in 1915, 18,057. The number of teachers 
employed is 56, with the average number of pupils in a 
class 24. If the same distribution of time were made as 
was suggested for cooking, 40 teachers could do this 
work. A still more radical saving could be effected by 
following the practice of many communities and organ- 
izing the work on a supervisory basis and requiring the 
teacher to give the actual instruction under the direc- 
tion of the supervisor. The extent to which this addi- 
tional reduction in the number of teachers of sewing is 
possible cannot be determined without definite knowl- 
edge of local conditions. If attempted it should be 
done gradually, leaving the teachers to carry on the work 
as soon as they are qualified to do so. This plan would 
effect no saving in mixed schools except in grades where 
boys have shop work. In fourth grades the handwork 
might be the same for boys and girls if other material 
in addition to cardboard were provided, in which case 
a special teacher would not, as now, be required for the 
girls' work. 

Unfortunately school reports give little information 
on the number of sewing teachers considered essential, 
as they are usually included under the title "Sewing 
and Cooking." St. Louis, with an average attendance 
of 78,463 in all schools, employs 16 sewing and cooking 
teachers; Newark, with an average attendance of 
53,717, employs 6 sewing and cooking teachers. The 
Rochester, N. Y., report is more definite. The average 
attendance is 27,124 with but three sewing supervisors. 
These figures lead to the inevitable conclusion that the 
policy of the schools indicated is to place sewing on the 
supervisory basis. 



Repokt on Boston Public Schools. 



63 



Manual Training. 

Eleven supervisors are detailed for the work in card- 
board and elementary bookbinding, representing nearly 
11,000 boys and 425 teachers in 115 school buildings. 
The duties are necessarily confined to inspection and 
supervision. Instruction in shop work for boys, who 
number 13,451, is given by 45 assistant instructors 
in manual training. Older boys from lower grades are 
permitted to take shop work, a policy in which no change 
should be considered. The time schedule for boys is 
the same as for girls, consisting of two hours per week, 
each instructor meeting two groups of boys daily. 
A reduction in the length of the period from two hours 
to an hour and a half, and the substitution of a three- 
period day for one of two periods, would result in making 
fifteen teachers available for other assignments. The 
general tendency to restrict household and manual 
arts to one period a week of 70 to 90 minutes in the 
grades is shown by the returns from 156 cities in response 
to a questionnaire upon the subject. 

It is unfortunate, to say the least, that hand work for 
boys in the seventh and eighth grades is restricted to 
woodworking only. It is impossible to keep the interest 
of many boys for three years in this single line of work 
and the result is a distaste for the woodworking trade. 
In the third year, or eighth grade, a choice among the 
typical trades of Boston would add to the efficiency 
of the department. 

The total amount expended for teachers' salaries per 
1,000 pupils enrolled in three cities in which the salary 
account is given separately for manual and household 
arts corroborates roughly the conclusions given above. 



Cost per 1,000 Children Enrolled in all Schools. 


City. 


Manual 
Training. 


Cooking and 

Sewing. 


Boston 


$810 00 

314 00 

1,031 00 


$940 00 


St. Louis 


247 00 • 


Rochester 


676 00 







Conclusions. 
1. Under the present organization little effort is 
made to correlate related lines of work 



64 City Document No. 87. 

2. This correlation may be obtained by establish- 
ing a single department of household and rhanual arts 
with a single head who serves in an executive and super- 
visory capacity. 

3. A regular instructor should be assigned to the 
drawing department of the Normal School. 

4. One general supervisor with eight assistants is 
not an excessive number to direct the drawing in ele- 
mentary schools enrolling nearly 95,000 pupils. After 
the seventh and eighth grades have been made a part 
of the junior high school departmental organization a 
smaller number may suffice. 

5. Instead of a four-hour day for teachers of cookery 
and manual training with two groups of pupils two hours 
each, substitute a four and a half or five hour day 
with three groups of pupils one and a half hours each, 
or two periods one and a half hours each in the morn- 
ing and one two-hour period in the afternoon. This 
will reduce the number of teachers approximately one 
third and release thirty-one teachers for other assign- 
ments. 

6. The possibility of teaching sewing by regular 
class room teachers under the direction of supervisors 
in place of the present scheme might well be considered. 

7. The cost of hand work could be reduced in the 
fourth grade by the introduction of additional material 
and making the course of study in manual arts identical 
for boys and girls. 

Evening and Voluntary Continuation Schools. 

The evening elementary school serves three distinct 
purposes : 

1. Teaching pupils whose attendance is required by 
law. 

2. Training in common branches for English-speaking 
adolescents and adults. 

3. Teaching English to foreigners with an attempt to 
present to them American ideas through teaching of 
English and particularly through instruction in civics, 
using that term in its widest signification. The problem 
of assimilating the constant stream of foreigners must 
largely be solved by the elementary evening school. 

Attendance and Costs. 

Five thousand nine hundred eighty-nine pupils were 
enrolled in the evening high schools and 12,182 in the 



Report on Boston Public' Schools. 



65 



elementary schools. In the table given below, total 
cost per pupil per hour is used to avoid error due to a 
difference in the number of nights the schools are in 
session. 





Total Expense, 

Elementary 

School. 


Pupil Cost 

per Hour, 

High School. 


Boston 


$0 084 
115 
099 


$0 12 


Newark 


16 


St. Louis 


119 







A large proportion of the evening elementary school 
enrollment consists of foreigners eager to acquire a 
knowledge of English. The number is as follows: 



Educated in native language 
Illiterate in native language 



6,465 
2,096 



Of these, 1,030 are thirty-one years of age or over. 
When men and women of this age are willing at the end 
of a day's work to spend two evening hours for the sake 
of acquiring the fundamentals of an education, the least 
the city can do is to afford them every facility in over- 
coming the inevitable difficulties. 

Voluntary Continuation Schools. 

These classes are conducted in cooperation with shops 
and factories to furnish an educational opportunity for 
those who wish to obtain the fundamentals of an ele- 
mentary education or a better preparation for their 
present position. They must be flexible in organization 
to meet the needs of their ever-changing membership. 
In addition to English for non-English speaking people, 
the courses in the voluntary classes consist largely of 
short unit courses, determined by the needs of the 
students in attendance. Provision also is made for 
workers sixteen years of age who have taken courses in 
the compulsory continuation school. The total cost is 
8| cents per pupil per hour. 

Conclusions. 

1. The 8,561 pupils enrolled in classes for foreigners 
represent only a beginning in the work that should be 



66 City Document No. 87. 

done in a city with a population of 670,585, of whom 
242,047 are foreign born. 

2. The vigorous advertising campaigns of previous 
years should be continued and every effort made to 
arouse the indifferent foreigners to a clear realization 
of the value of night-school attendance. 

3. The courses of study prepared by the School 
Department indicate a clear understanding of the dif- 
j&culties experienced by the adult foreigner in learning 
the new language. So far as possible only those teachers 
who are especially well adapted to the task of evening 
school instruction should be selected. 

4. The policy of establishing voluntary continuation 
schools in cooperation with employers of labor is most 
commendable. 

5. The boys and girls compelled to leave school for 
economic reasons before graduation should be given every 
opportunity to complete their interrupted education. 
Due regard for their future as well as the best interests of 
the city demand a liberal policy with respect to pupils 
of this character. Every effort should be made to adjust 
the school hours to their available time. A wide choice 
of subjects offered should be granted. 

Community Centers. 

The last census shows that out of a total population of 
670,585, Boston has a foreign population of 242,047. 
No city has yet devised a better solution of the problem 
presented by its adult foreigners than the establishment 
of school centers under control of the School Department. 
In Boston this work is being carried on effectively at a 
small cost entirely out of proportion to the value of the 
service rendered. 

Organization. 

Under a general director and four assistants the city is 
divided into seven districts, each being in charge of a man 
selected because of his knowledge of the local situation. 
Each district supervisor is assisted by a woman whose 
especial duty is to direct the work among groups of 
women. 

In each district group leaders are chosen for the various 
activities desired. They include groups interested in 
sewing, dressmaking, millinery, cooking, dramatic work, 
basketry, nursing, gymnasium, basketball, and clubs for 
fathers, mothers and young men. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 67 

Entertainments and Lectures. 

The department stands consistently for entertainments 
of educational significance and value. Programs con- 
sisting of good music, illustrated lectures, dramatics, 
aad masterpieces in moving pictures are the means 
employed. That these courses were appreciated is 
indicated by the fact that 44,134 people attended the 
English lectures in one season. Local talent is developed 
wherever the interest warrants. 

The non-English lectures were given in codperation 
with the North American Civic League for Immigrants, 
and were intended primarily for instruction in civic 
duty and responsibility. Five languages, Lithuanian, 
Polish, Italian, Yiddish and Arabic, were employed. 

Membership. 
Emphasis is placed upon building up an adult member- 
ship in all centers. Three thousand four hundred and 
nine persons over sixteen years of age were enrolled. 
Only those who came regularly were reckoned in this 
number. The most valuable work is not done by filling 
a hall to hear some popular speaker, but it is accom- 
plished by enlisting the interest of a small group which 
meets to work out its own problems. 

Expenses. 

The state law does not permit the Boston School Board 
to charge an admission fee for the use of halls or buildings. 
Expenses must be met by voluntary contributions, and 
tickets may be issued to identify subscribers. This 
provision of the statute, designed to prevent the School 
Committee from making any profit out of the rental 
of school buildings, handicaps the work to a certain 
extent by complicating the machinery necessary to 
place the clubs on a self-supporting basis. Fifteen clubs 
are entirely self-supporting and two are practically so. 

The total attendance at the seven centers for the year 
was as follows: 

Total Attendance. 

Clubs and entertainments 98,530 

English lectures 44,134 

Non-English lectures 16,209 

122 home and school associations .... 36,388 

21 alumni meetings 3,962 

26 citizens' meetings . . . . . . 4,744 

56 other meetings 6,560 

Total 210,527 



68 



City Document No. 87. 



Conclusions. 

1. Plans for the construction of new buildings and the 
remodelling of old schools should provide rooms adapted 
to the special activities desirable for the neighborhood. 
Some cities design double kindergarten rooms well 
adapted to this double use. 

2. Unless required for use of evening classes, buildings 
should be utilized for social center purposes on any night 
most likely to secure the attendance of the people in the 
neighborhood. 

3. A liberal policy should be observed in opening 
school buildings for local use. The enterprise should be 
safeguarded by the most careful study and supervision 
so that undesirable tendencies may be promptly checked. 

4. The effort of the department to make groups 
self-supporting is to be commended. 



Music. 

The number of pupils in charge of each of the assistants 
is large, so large that many music supervisors would 
consider the burden excessive. The totals are given in 
the following table at the head of each of the columns: 



I. 


II. 


III. 


IV. 


V. 


VI. 


VII. 


VIII. 


IX. 


Pupils 

Teachers 


8,350 
214 


9,574 
235 


8,380 
214 


8,467 
209 


7,827 
194 


9,284 
232 


9,301 
236 


9,131 

228 


8,867 
219 



The work of the assistants in charge of the high schools 
consists of the direction of the choral singing. Assuming 
that six periods daily is a reasonable requirement for 
high school instructors both of these supervisors are 
carrying full schedules. 

Little comment concerning this department is neces- 
sary. The wisdom of the policy of giving music instruc- 
tion in the public schools has been so thoroughly estab- 
lished that even the severest critics of the schools would 
hesitate to advocate the elimination of the department. 

To increase the number of teachers and pupils assigned 
to each supervisor is inadvisable. The policy of allowing 
full credit for music taken with approved instructors 
is worthy of especial commendation, and should be 
continued. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 69 

Kindergartens. 
Organization of the Department. 

The director and her assistant have under their 
immediate supervision kindergartens with an average 
attendance of 5,298 children in 138 classes. These are 
cared for by 244 teachers. A special assistant is allowed 
in all classes in which the attendance is in excess of 60 
children. In addition to these special assistants another 
small group of young women is employed, called attend- 
ants. They take no active part in the instruction but 
give their attention to the physical needs of the children. 
They are assigned to the foreign schools where the 
inability of the child to understand or express himself 
in English makes an interpreter necessary. 

Suggested Change in Administration. 

The eligible list of kindergarten teachers is usually 
short and the supervisor finds considerable difficulty in 
meeting the demand for special assistants. The depart- 
ment is often compelled to assign teachers with little 
experience to these positions. This difficulty could be 
met by transferring special assistants to regular posi- 
tions and by allowing practice teachers from the various 
excellent pri.vate kindergartens to serve as special 
assistants in the overcrowded rooms. Not only would 
this result in some financial saving but it would enable 
the kindergarten supervisor to select for ultimate 
appointment a very superior group of trained kinder- 
garten teachers. It frequently happens that a hundred 
or more of these girls are observing in the various rooms 
of the city. The department can ill afford to lose the 
opportunity to utilize the services of these students and 
to secure that accurate knowledge of their ability which 
comes only from direct observation of their work under 
actual teaching conditions. 

Kindergarten Accommodations. 

Judging from the type of room in which Boston kin- 
dergartens are housed previous building plans have not 
given due consideration to the requirements for effective 
kindergarten work. A single room of the ordinary size 
does not give sufficient space for two groups of children. 
The best practice requires two connected rooms, one for 



70 City Document No. 87. 

the tables and the other large enough for a ring 20 feet 
in diameter. A private toilet is an essential feature. 
A wardrobe adjacent to the main room for outside cloth- 
ing should be provided. If one room is used it should 
be larger than a single class room, ^t least 23 feet by 
50 feet, with the same toilet and wardrobe facilities as 
the double room. 

Of the 90 one-room kindergartens 57 are approxi- 
mately 25 feet by 32 feet and only three are materially 
larger. In one instance a space 30 feet by 19 feet is 
allowed. Even in new schools with two rooms separated 
by folding doors insufficient space is the rule. 

Better facilities could be provided at no additional 
expense if the expert advice of those in charge were more 
frequently sought. It would be a wise business policy 
to secure the cooperation of this department in develop- 
ing a standard type of kindergarten room for all future 
school buildings. A similar plan could be followed 
profitably in working out a scheme for improving those 
rooms now in use. If the same principle should be 
utilized in selecting the equipment for these classes 
better results could be secured at no additional cost. 

Afternoon Sessions. 

For the sake of economy it is often suggested that 
kindergarten teachers be required to care for one group 
of children in the morning and a second group in the 
afternoon. Advocates of this plan lose sight of two 
material considerations. 

A teacher who has worked with a large group of 
children for the morning session has lost so much 
nervous energy that she is physically unable to repeat 
the necessary effort efficiently with a totally different 
group of children in the afternoon. A kindergarten 
teacher even more than others needs to be vivacious 
and alert. 

The children themselves constitute a second objection 
to this arrangement. After a morning of boisterous 
play the children are in no suitable condition to profit 
from instruction and are dull and lifeless, so that the 
session lacks in the joy and spontaneity characteristic 
of a good kindergarten. 

In the foreign sections of the city language difficulties 
alone make the need of a double session imperative. 
Unless the children come to the first grade teacher with 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 71 

a reasonable knowledge of English effective teaching is 
impossible. A foreign tongue is used both in the home 
and by playground associates and the school is the only 
place where the necessary facility in English can be 
acquired. 

Each kindergarten class should have two sessions; 
recreation being emphasized in the afternoon session 
and systematic home visitation required. 

The committee is unanimous in regarding it unwise 
to attempt a double session with an afternoon session 
devoted to work of the same character as that given in 
the morning. If the morning is devoted to regular 
kindergarten work the afternoon can profitably be 
devoted largely to free play, organized games and school 
excursions. Such a division of the school day saves the 
child from undue fatigue and furnishes an excellent 
opportunity for his training as a social being while at 
the same time he receives a most effective training in 
the use of the English language. 

It is not to be assumed that the work of the kinder- 
garten ends with the close of the session. Constant 
home visitation should be the rule. 

Conclusions and Recommendations. 

1. Establish kindergarten for four-year old children 
in all congested and foreign districts as funds permit 
through savings effected by utilizing the services of 
unpaid practice teachers as assistants. 

2. Provide space for two rooms with private toilet 
in all new buildings and remodel old buildings on same 
basis as rapidly as circumstances will permit. 

3. Utilize the expert opinion of the department in 
planning and equipping kindergartens. 



72 City Document No. 87. 



CHAPTER v.— VOCATIONAL EDUCATION. 



This section of the report deals with the Compulsory 
Continuation School, the Boys' Industrial School, the 
Girls' Trade School, the Part Time Cooperative Course 
in the Hyde Park High School, the Pre-vocational 
Departments in various schools and Vocational 
Guidance. 

Children expecting to follow mechanical occupations 
may enter pre-vocational departments in the upper 
grammar grades for a tryout experience in an attempt 
to determine the choice of occupations. Unfortunately, 
the opportunities for pre-vocational work are at present 
quite limited. 

The Continuation School cares for the children who 
leave school between the ages of fourteen and sixteen. 
It gives two hours a week of general education and two 
hours of tryout experiences to those who have not 
determined upon a vocation or two hours weekly of 
vocational improvement to those who have entered 
their vocation. Practically all of the fourteen to 
sixteen year old children who have entered employment 
are cared for in the Continuation School. 

The Trade School for Girls, the Industrial School for 
Boys, the Mechanic Arts High School and the coopera- 
tive department in the Hyde Park High School offer 
specific trade training to children who remain in school. 
The trade and industrial schools will probably always 
have a definite place in a scheme for trade training, but 
they cannot be considered as the sole agency for doing 
this work. While cooperative or part time courses are 
established to a very limited extent in Boston, and at 
present only in a high school, it is possible that they 
may become the most important agency for trade 
training. 

Vocational guidance is closely associated with the 
functions of each of the schools dealt with in this section 
of the report. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 73 

Pre-Vocational Departments. 
Pre-vocational centers for boys have been established 
in eleven districts. These departments were originally 
planned for backward or retarded boys. 

Aim. 

The pre-vocational schools aim to appeal to the 
interests of grammar school children and thus to hold 
them in school; to accelerate progress in school; to 
show the importance of the vocations and the possibili- 
ties of entering them; to offer a preliminary training 
for boys who may intend to enter the Industrial School, 
the Mechanic Arts High School, or the cooperative 
high school courses; to give a try-out experience to 
children who must enter employment at the age of 
fourteen; to make instruction intensive and concrete 
by relating the academic work to the activities. 

Entrance Requirements. — Children do not usually enter 
the pre-vocational school before they are twelve years of 
age. While retarded or over-age children are usually 
considered in connection with these courses, the con- 
crete application of the academic work to the activities 
offers a most satisfactory method of teaching to a large 
proportion of children. Increased powers are acquired 
in pre-vocational experience that are not developed in 
the regular course. For many children the work offers a 
superior preparation for the high schools. For these 
reasons, pre-vocational courses should be offered as 
electives to all grammar school pupils twelve years old 
or over and to those who have completed the sixth 
grade. The aims above stated are not carried out at 
the present time inasmuch as practically all the pupils 
enrolled in these departments are from the over-age and 
backward children. A number of adolescent mental 
defectives are admitted to these departments. These 
children should be placed in special classes and given a 
large amount of shop work. The supervisory staff of 
the pre-vocational departments could well direct the 
work of these children. 

Organization. 
The pre-vocational schools are under the immediate 
direction of the Associate Director of Manual Arts. An 
assistant director of manual arts has charge of the shop 



74 City Document No. 87. 

work and certain phases of the related work. These 
pre-vocational centers are located in the regular ele- 
mentary school districts and form a part of the elemen- 
tary schools coming under the jurisdiction of the 
grammar masters. 

Each trade unit is composed of a group of forty-five 
boj^s, with one class teacher and one shop teacher. The 
shop instructor has fifteen boys at a time, the class 
room teacher having fifteen recite while fifteen are 
studying. The classes are in session six hours a day 
for five days a week. Some centers have but one 
trade represented with one unit of forty-five boys. 
Others have two and some three. This report deals 
exclusively with boys, the girls' work not having been 
developed to a sufficient extent to be recognized as 
pre-vocational work. It is, rather, extended work in 
cooking, sewing and household work. 

Plant. 

The pre-vocational work is handicapped by the limi- 
tation of the number of trades represented in any one 
district. In some cases the boy is getting two years of 
experience in one trade because there is no other trade 
course in his district. In other instances, a boy spends 
a year in a single trade. Pre-vocational courses should 
include a sufficient number of activities to serve as a 
try-out experience. By continuing the boys' experience 
in one trade for a long period, the work ceases to be 
pre-vocational, yet it is not organized educationally to 
become actual trade training; furthermore, it loses its 
vocational guidance value. It is also apt to draw boys 
into a certain trade for which they have no particular 
interest. Theoretically, the boy may be transferred 
from one center to another in order to get a variety of 
try-out experiences, but in practice the boy stays in one 
school and in the activity that he started with. The 
pre-vocational machine shops are equipped to an 
unnecessary degree of completeness. Centers simply 
equipped for hand work, with few power tools, are suit- 
able to give pre-vocational training. One large shop 
could be used for instruction in a variety of activities. 

Characteristics of the Work. 

Practicall}^ all of the shop work is based on orders 
for different schools. The pre-vocational shops are 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 75 

equipped to do a large amount of work for the school 
buildings, grounds and furnishings. The product turned 
out meets the requirements so far as this work has been 
attempted. A tremendous fund of educational experi- 
ence is available if the possibilities are sufficiently 
utilized. Money expended for equipment produced by 
the schools gives a double return, first, in providing 
valuable educative experience, and second, in supplying 
equipment to be used in educational practice. It 
seems desirable that the functions of the Schoolhouse 
Commission, the Business Agent and the directing 
staff be so associated as to secure the fullest advantage 
in providing this valuable educational opportunity and 
in securing the added return for the money expended. 

The shop teachers are selected from the trades. With 
fifteen boys in the shop at a time, these teachers are 
enabled to give a sufficient amount of instruction to 
make the experience of the boys profitable. A serious 
attempt is made to correlate class room work with the 
shop practice. In only one of the classes visited, 
however, was any natural correlation observed. Most 
of the teachers of the class room work are women of 
experience in the regular elementary schools and they 
probably find it difficult to acquire a working knowledge 
of subject matter which could best be used in correla- 
tion. Some difficulty is experienced in inducing teachers 
to enter this department, owing to the six-hour day and 
the special problems involved. Many of the positions 
are filled on temporary assignments, owing to the lack 
of properly qualified teachers. 

The problem of the proper teaching of related work 
is still to be solved. The immediate steps that may be 
taken are: (1) the adoption of a system of shop and 
class room blanks on which data are secured in the shop, 
and which are then carried on to the class room for 
development ; (2) some of the responsibility for initiating 
the related work may be placed on the shop instructor 
by allowing the initial presentation of subject matter 
to be given by him, and by requiring complete data to 
be properly compiled on blanks and handed to the 
class teacher in advance of her lesson preparation; 
(3) special training in methods of teaching related work, 
as by an extension course, would be of value to both 
shop and class teachers. 



76 



City Document No. 87. 



COSTS AND STATISTICS. 



Enrollment of Boys in 

Mather 



Dearborn 
Dudley 

Sherwin 
Agassiz 

Quincy 
Eliot . 



Lawrence 



Lewis 
Theodore Lyman 

Prescott . 



Pre=Vocational Schools, December 

Lyceum Hall: 

Sheet Metal - 

Woodvt^orking 

Electricity . 
. Winthrop Street 

Woodworking 

Bookbinding 
. Miles Standish: 

Machine Shop 

Paint Shop 

Electricity . 
Sherwin: 

Sheet Metal 
. Agassiz : 

Woodworking 

Printing 
. Quincy 

Machine Shop . 
North Bennet Street: 

Woodworking (a) 

Printing (h) 

Parkman: 

Machine Shop 

Electricity . 

Woodworking 
Lewis : 

Printing 
. Austin : 

Bookbinding 

Printing 

Machine Shop 
Abram E. Cutter 

Woodworking 

Electricity . 



Total number in pre-vocational centers 



2, 1915. 

43 
45 
44 



36 
31 

40 
29 
35 

36 

31 
24 

42 

38 

30 
30 
30 

35 

36 
32 
45 

33 
36 

781 



The statement of costs submitted by the Business 
Agent for pre-vocational schools is given below: 

Financial Year 1914-15, November 24, 1915. 

Pre-Vocational Centers. 

Salaries of principals $786 51 

Salaries of teachers 21,904 01 



Carried forward $22,690 52 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 77 

Brought forward $22,690 52 

Text, supplementary and reference books . , 98 75 

Manual training supplies and equipment . . 3,027 37 

Drawing supplies and equipment .... 276 55 

Miscellaneous supplies and incidentals . . . 349 88 

Salaries of janitors 853 23 

Fuel 451 30 

Light 93 89 

Power 3 88 

Janitors' supplies 63 74 

Rental charges * 2,580 00 

Supervision and general charges of Department of 

Manual Arts . . . ._ . . . . 1,829 80 
Other administration, supervision and general 

charges 2,058 20 



Total . t $34,377 11 

Average attendance 369 

Cost per pupil $93 16 

The charge for supplies has been reduced by credits 
for work done for the School Committee and the School- 
house Commission. The actual cost of operating pre- 
vocational schools could be still further reduced by 
giving these schools a larger number of orders for work 
on school plants and equipment. The item of rental 
charge includes the total amount of rent paid for two 
of the pre-vocational centers, which rent includes heat, 
light and janitor service. If the cost of this school was 
put on the same basis as the costs submitted by other 
schools, the proportion which represents investment, 
sinking fund and repair charges should be deducted. 
An adjustment to this figure might be made by taking 
three tenths of |2,580 as representing light, heat and 
janitor service, making a reduction in the total cost of 
$1,806, or making the total of $32,571.11. If the 
$821.03 for equipment is deducted, the total is 
$31,750.08. The cost per pupil on the basis of average 
attendance is $86.05. 

Conclusions and Recommendations. 
Boston has for several years been conducting pre- 
vocational classes and the committee sees much of value 
in the work. There are several changes which should 
be made to make it still more valuable, and in sug- 

* Two of the pre-vocational centers are located in hired accommodations, rental for 
which includes services of janitors, heat and light. 

t Exclusive of lands and buildings, furniture and furnishings, repairs, depreciation, 
interest and sinking fund charges. 



78 City Document No. 87. 

gesting these changes no criticism is impHed as to their 
past management. 

Pre-vocational departments should be maintained for 
the children of twelve years of age or over in regular 
schools who can best secure a general education through 
a participation in industrial or homemaking activities, 
and they should be open to all who elect them with the 
consent of the parents and upon recommendation of the 
proper school authorities. The work should include 
as great a number of activities as possible for each 
pupil and should be given to groups no larger than the 
present plan provides for. 

While backward or retarded children should be 
admitted to this department as in any other, this 
selective basis of enabling pupils should be replaced by 
the free elective basis. All children should be admitted 
to pre-vocational courses who can profit more in these 
departments than in the regular academic departments. 
Pre-vocational classes should be organized for girls as 
well as for boys. 

The committee recommends that as rapidly as pos- 
sible the pre-vocational classes be made a part of the 
differentiated junior high school as proposed in another 
part of this report and that the pre-vocational courses 
should be three years in length, covering the seventh, 
eighth and ninth years of the school course. 

It is also recommended that the equipment for future 
pre-vocational centers should be simple and provide for 
as many of the most important activities as will meet 
pre-vocational requirements for tryout experiences and 
will furnish educational background. 

Training should be provided for the teachers of 
related work to increase efficiency in this branch. The 
present shortage of supply of teachers will disappear 
under the junior high school schedule. 

Adolescent mental deficients should not be placed in 
pre-vocational classes but could be well cared for under 
the pre-vocational administration in special classes and 
given a large amount of practical work. 

Total Number of Pupils * Twelve Years Old and Over at School in 
Pre=Vocational Courses, by Courses, for the School Year 1914-15. 

Elementary School Grades. 

81 
50 
81 

* No boys are admitted under twelve years of age. 



1. Woodworking 


. 179 


4. Bookbinding 


2. Printing . 


. 121 


5. Electricity 


3. Machine Shop 


. 108 


6. Sheet Metal 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 79 



statistics for Pre=-Vocational Schools — September, 1914, to 
June 1, 1915. 





Total 
Number 
Enrolled. 


Number 
With- 
drawn. 


Average 
Member- 
ship. 


Average 
Attend- 
ance. 


Number 

Belonging 

June 1, 

1915. 


* Abram E. Cutter: 

Woodwork 


39 

52 
64 
45 

38 

50 
46 
45 

58 

56 

35 

36 
56 


8 

21 
20 
11 

9 

9 
4 
3 

20 

23 

4 

14 
24 


31.1 

37.4 
33.6 
34.5 

41+ 

41+ 

41+ 
43+ 

38 

34.3 

33 

20 
29 


26.8 

34.2 
30.6 
29.9 

39+ 

39+ 
39+ 
41+ 

36 

32.8 
32 

17 

26 




Electricity 





Agassiz : 

Woodwork 


31 


* Printing 




Austin : 

Machine 


42 


Printing 


30 


Bookbinding 


37 


Lewis : 

Printing 


41 


Lyceum Hall: 

Electricity 


41 


Sheet Metal 


40 


Woodwork 


41 


* Miles Standish: 

Electricity 




Painting 





Machine 

North Bennet Street : 

Printing and woodwork. . . 

* Parkman: 

Electricity 


38 


Machine 





Woodwork 





Quincy : 

Machine 


29 


Sherwin: 

Sheet Metal 


31 


Winthrop Street Center: 

Bookbinding. 


22 


Woodwork 


29 







* Not established until September, 1915. 



80 



City Document No. 87. 



Number of Boys Graduating from Pre=Vocational Courses Entering 

Employment. 



Types of Employment Entered. 


Trade Tried 
in School. 


Profitable 

Work Not 

Tried in 

Sclwol. 


Employment 
Without 
Future. 


From courses in: 

Cabinetmaking and carpentry 

Electrical work . • 


6 
3 
3 
3 
5 
6 


13 

1 

13 

8 
13 


6 
1 


Bookbinding 


4 


Sheet metal work 


3 


Machine work 




Printing 


9 







Number of Under=Qraduates Leaving Pre=Vocational Courses 
Entering Employment. 



Types of Employment Entered. 



Trade Tried 
in School. 



Profitable 

Work Not 

Tried in 

School. 



Employment 
Without 
Future. 



From courses in: 

Cabinetmaking and carpentry. 

Electrical work 

Bookbinding 

Sheet metal work 

Machine work 

Printing 



16 
1 
6 



13 
6 



12 
2 
6 
1 
5 
8 



Number of Boys Graduated from Pre=VocationaI Schools and 
Entering High School or Industrial School. 



List of Pre-Vocational Schools. 


C3 
< 


d 

< 




"3 
B 




>> 

o 

a 
'3 

* 


1 


<u 

t-t 

■a a 


Boys' High Schools: 








10 
















4 






1 












1 












4 


5 






1 




1 


















1 










High School not in Boston 












1 
11 

2 


1 








2 


4 

7 






1 


Industrial School for Boys . . 


1 


2 


2 




1 



* This year the Quincy pre-vocational class has an eighth grade for the first time. 
Twelve out of a total of thirteen enrolled in the seventh for 1914-1915 are now in the eighth 
grade. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 81 



The Compulsory Continuation Schools. 

Continuation classes were first established by the 
Boston School Committee in 1910 for young people 
employed in the shoe and leather industry, the dry goods 
industry and department stores. The support accorded 
these classes by business men of Boston led to further 
development of the continuation school through legis- 
lation enacted by the General Court in 1913. This 
legislation (chapter 805, Acts of 1913) permits school 
committees to establish compulsory continuation schools 
for workers between the ages of fourteen and sixteen 
years regularly employed at least six hours a day, and, 
with the approval of the State Board of Education, to 
make attendance compulsory. This act stipulates that 
instruction shall be given within the hours which children 
are permitted by law to work, such instruction to be not 
less than four hours per week. The act also provides 
that the state shall, under certain conditions, reimburse 
cities and towns for one half the cost of the maintenance 
of such schools. Classes were opened under the present 
law in September, 1914. The school is in session five 
days a week during the entire year. The pupils are 
required to attend four hours each week until they are 
sixteen years of age. The teachers serve six hours a 
day, four in class work and two in follow-up work. 

Aim. 

The aim of the Continuation School is to serve this 
group by continuing general education, by promoting 
civic intelligence, by equalizing opportunities, by meet- 
ing the situation that exists as the result of the child 
labor laws, by extending vocational intelligence and 
by providing vocational guidance. 

General Education. — These schools give a portion of 
their time to helping boys and girls acquire a working 
knowledge of such fundamental subjects as arithmetic, 
reading and writing, in order to give them greater 
demand of these common tools in their daily work and 
to enable them to perform the duties of citizenship. 

Promoting Civic Intelligence. — Boys and girls who go 
to work at the age of fourteen to sixteen leave school at 
the very time of their lives when they need to acquire 
ideas of civic affairs. Under such circumstances they 
enter the industry without knowing their proper relation 



82 City Document No. 87. 

to the municipality. The Continuation School gives 
training in city affairs by actual contact with city depart- 
ments. 

Equalizing Opportunities. — The children who enter 
employment at this early age are thrust on the world 
with just the rudiments of an education and are required 
to make their way as best they can. The Continuation 
School steps in to discharge the responsibility of the 
state toward these children by giving them opportunity 
for further education while at w^ork. 

Meeting the Situation Resulting from the Child Labor 
Laws. — These laws, which have been wisely enacted 
for the welfare of the children, limit the occupations in 
which they may engage. The Commonwealth's respon- 
sibility for placing children in the right job is expressed 
by the fact that it has attempted to limit the occupations 
in which children may engage. As they cannot be 
employed in occupations in which they may acquire 
skill or specific ability, it is highly important that the 
state give them training that may be applied when they 
reach the age of sixteen. 

Extending Vocational Intelligence. — Through trade 
and business experiences the continuation schools afford 
a specific means for the acquirement of certain useful 
powers in vocations. To develop these powers contin- 
uation schools provide work in printing, machine shop 
practice, cabinet making, carpentry, electric wiring, 
pattern making, typewriting, dressmaking, millinery, 
office practice and salesmanship. Where children have 
definitely chosen one of these vocations the school gives 
them opportunities to acquire more or less vocational 
intelligence and skill in the vocation chosen. Boys and 
girls who have not yet chosen a vocation, and very few 
have, are introduced to a variety of occupations so that 
they may make an intelligent choice. 

Providing Vocational Guidance. — An effort is made to 
help the children determine what occupation they are 
best fitted for and to assist them in securing positions 
in the occupations chosen. Each instructor has three 
duties in this connection: to give information about the 
various occupations; to help place pupils in the occupa- 
tions they have chosen; to check the results of the train- 
ing and guidance by follow-up visits to the places of 
employment and the homes of the children. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 83 

The scheme for instruction in the Continuation 
School makes the inspirational side of the work consider- 
ably more effective than that of the regular schools. 

Organization. 

The Boston compulsory continuation schools are 
authorized by statute, and state aid is given provided 
the schools meet the standards of efficiency required by 
the State Board of Education. 

The staff of the school totals forty-six with a principal, 
two division heads, sixteen assistants, thirteen special 
assistants, four trade instructors, two instructors, two 
trade assistants, three clerical assistants and one tool 
keeper. Seven of the staff are on part time. Twenty 
are employed in the La Grange street building. The 
Boston School Department has chosen teachers who 
show promise of success in this work and has given them 
preliminary training before employing them in the 
Continuation School. 

Classes. — There are four types of classes: (a) voca- 
tional continuation classes, (6) general improvement 
classes, (c) pre-vocational classes and (d) out-of-work 
classes. 

Vocational Continuation or Trade Improvement Classes 
are intended for boys and girls who are employed in 
vocations they intend to follow. Part of the school time 
is devoted to practice in processes related to these 
vocations. For example, boys from the telephone com- 
panies are learning to make up charges from the check 
slips; boys and girls from business offices are learning 
to use typewriters; boys and girls from sales departments 
of stores are learning to make out delivery slips; boys 
from electrical concerns are learning house wiring. 

General Improvement Classes. — As children enter this 
school they are placed in a general improvement class 
known as the "reservoir class." The purpose of this 
class is to give the teachers in the school an opportunity 
to study the practical needs of the children so as to 
place them intelligently in the various departments of 
the school and at the same time to give them oppor- 
tunities to proceed with the improvement of their 
education and to become acquainted with the purposes 
of the school. After a period, usually from two to four 



84 City Document No. 87. 

weeks, the children are enrolled in departments which 
will best serve their needs. Throughout the course two 
hours a week of general improvement work are given. A 
small group is given four hours a week of general improve- 
ment work during the entire time of their attendance at 
the school. 

Pre-Vocational Classes. — These classes attempt to 
find out the aptitudes of the pupils by giving them a 
"try-out" experience with a number of occupations in 
several of the shops, work rooms or clerical departments. 
Most of the children in this school are in pre-vocational 
classes. The school is equipped to give experience in 
twelve occupations. 

Out-of-Work Classes. — Many pupils who are allowed 
to go to work lose their positions for one reason or 
another and, in accordance with the terms of the law, 
are supposed to be back in a day school. The continua- 
tion schools in Boston are supposed to provide twenty 
hours of instruction weekly for these children in "out-of- 
work classes." Lack of room prevents the pupils from 
receiving this instruction. At present they are required 
to report once daily to the school until they secure 
another position. 

Folloiv-up Work for Teachers. — By the rules of the 
School Committee the teachers . are required to give 
six hours daily to the Continuation School. Each 
teacher does four hours of instruction daily with a group 
of twenty to twenty-five pupils and has five such groups 
during the week. The remaining two hours are spent 
in what is termed "follow-up work" for the pupils in 
their charge. This work consists of visiting the places 
where the pupils are employed, getting acquainted with 
the conditions of employment, consulting with the 
parents of the pupils at their homes, placing "out-of- 
work" children, and in fact doing anything which pro- 
motes the general welfare of the pupils. 

Plant. 

The school at 25 La Grange street houses the larger 
part of the compulsory continuation school classes. This 
building includes rooms for class work, bookkeeping 
and typewriting; shops for sewing, millinery, power 
sewing machines, machine shop, woodwork, electrical 
work, printing and bookbinding. The equipment seems 
to be well adapted for the purpose to which it is applied. 



Repokt on Boston Public Schools. 85 

In one or two cases, as in the machine shop, the equipment 
is of the right kind, but there is not enough of it to 
accommodate the number of pupils needing this work. 
Each department appears to be running at full capacity 
practically all of the time. In the rented centers, simple 
class room furniture is provided. The department 
stores provide quarters for the classes conducted in 
their own buildings. The numbers accommodated in 
these plants, as enrolled December 13, 1915, are: 

In 25 La Grange street 2,054 

In rented centers 284 

In stores 164 

In factories 291 



Total 2,793 

Characteristics of the Work. 

The school has been in existence for only a short time, 
but the various lines of work have begun to take shape 
and to indicate that the aims of the school are carried 
out. The pupils in the various groups are having an 
experience which offers an exceptional background of 
interest in applying general improvement work. The 
regular school rarely has such an opportunity to make 
the concrete application in educational work that the 
continuation schools have. In the Continuation School, 
training in arithmetic deals with the kinds of work in 
which the children are employed and the need for which 
they have a very real appreciation. Their training in 
English utilizes terms and expressions met with in the 
daily work. Clerical training is based on the forms and 
transactions brought in from the places where the 
students are employed. The methods of instruction 
and the course of study are particularly well adapted 
to the students in these classes. The shops are typical 
of those in the industries. The product is turned out 
by methods that are used in the industry and it has a 
commercial value. The pupils are grouped as far as 
possible in relation to academic attainment and occupa- 
tion. The instruction is suitable in content and effi- 
cient in method. 

Cost and Statistics. 

The statements of costs for compulsory continuation 
schools are furnished by the Business Agent. 



86 City Document No. 87. 



COMPULSORY CONTINUATION SCHOOL. 
Cost for Period November 1, 1914, to October 31, 1915. 

Salary of principal $2,431 07 

Salaries of clerks 1,403 83 

Salaries of teachers : . . ~ . 26,729 32 

Books and supplies and incidentals . . . "" " , . . 2,026 49 

Salaries of janitors . . . .■ 1,255 72 

Fuel 334 10 

Power 101 43 

Light 418 16 

Janitors' supplies 105 81 

Replaced equipment (machinery and tools) .... 38 55 

$34,844 48 
Credit for work done for other units 47 43 

$34,797 03 

Cost exclusive of administration, supervision and general 

charges and new equipment $34,797 03 

Number of pupil hours of instruction based on number 
belonging _ 270,695 

Number of pupil hours of instruction based on attendance, 235,920 

Cost per pupil hour on above total based on number be- 
longing $0,128 

Cost per pupU hour on above total based on attendance . $0 . 148 

Above cost brought down $34,797.03 

Cost of administration, supervision and general charges . 5,949.93 

Cost with cost of administration, supervision and general 
charges added, exclusive of land, buildings, furniture 
repairs, depreciation, repairs and sinking fund charges, $40,746.96 
Cost per pupil hour based on above total on number be- 
longing .15 

Cost per pupil hour based on above total on attendance . .173 

The Business Agent reports that the City of Boston 
will receive reimbursement from the state for $17,281.52 
as the state's share of maintenance expended for this 
Continuation School. This amount has not been 
deducted from the statement of costs. 

Expenditures for equipment are $8,562 34 

Expenditures for rent are 5,200 00 

Expenditures for taxes are 1,188 00 



SALESMANSHIP COURSES IN RENTED BUILDINGS. 
Financial Year 1914-15. 

Salaries of teachers $380 17 

Supplies and incidentals, * 1.3 per cent of amount charged 

to Continuation Schools 17 48 

Carried forward $397 65 

*As estimated by Director of Evening and Continuation Schools. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 87 

Brought forward $397 65 

Supervision: 

* 1 per cent of the fraction of the cost of the office of 

Director of Evening and Continuation Schools 

charged to Continuation Schools .... 38 55 

* 10 per cent of the fraction of the cost of the office of 

Director of Practice in Courses in Salesmanship 

charged to Continuation Schools . . _ . . 92 22 

t 1.3 per cent of other administration, supervision and 

general charges 49 63 

t 1.3 per cent of the salaries of Mr. Winter, Mr. White, 
Miss Blanchard, Miss Ginn, Miss Appel and Miss 
Riordan charged to Continuation Schools . . 39 32 

Total $617 37 



Total number of pupil hours based on attendance . . 1.964 

J Cost per pupU hour $0,314 

The supervision charge for this course is 36 per cent 
of the entire cost. This will probably be less for the 
year 1915-16. 



SALESMANSHIP COURSES IN STORES. 

Financial Year 1914-15. 

Salaries of teachers $3,113 13 

Supplies and incidentals, § 13 per cent of the amount charged 

to Continuation Schools 174 76 

Supervision: 

* 10 per cent of the fraction of the cost of the office of 

Director of Evening and Continuation Schools 

charged to Continuation Schools .... 385 45 

* 70 per cent of the fraction of the cost of the office of 

Director of Practice in Courses in Salesmanship 

charged to Continuation Schools .... 645 52 

1 13 per cent of other administration supervision and 

general charges 496 27 

1 13 per cent of the salaries of Mr. Winter, Mr. White, 
Miss Blanchard, Miss Ginn, Miss Appel and Miss 
Riordan, charged to Continuation Schools . . 393 17 



Total $5,208 30 



Total nmnber of pupil hours based on attendance . . . 19,150 

§ Cost per pupil hour $0 . 272 

The supervision charge for this course is 36 per cent 
of the entire cost. 

This will probably be less for the year 1915-16. 

* As estimated by Director of Evening and Continuation Schools, 
t Percentage of total pupil hours for these courses. 
t Exclusive of rent, fuel, light, power or janitor service. 

§ Quarters are furnished by owners of stores without cost for rent, fuel, light, power or 
janitor services. 



88 City Document No. 87. 

The estimated pupil hour costs given bj^ the Business 
Agent in the tables above is based on four hours' attend- 
ance for each pupil at the school. The pupil hour cost 
should be based on the number of teacher hours of 
service since they are all given for the benefit of the 
pupils. Taking that into account, the actual per pupil 
hour cost based on average enrollment is 10 cents and 
not 15 cents as presented by the Business Agent, and 
based on the average attendance is 11.5 cents and not 
17.3 cents as reckoned by the Business Agent. In like 
manner a reduction of one third should be made in the 
Business Agent's charge against salesmanship courses 
in stores and in rented buildings. An unusually large 
amount is charged against supervision of the salesman- 
ship courses. With the extension of the work this cost 
will be materially reduced. The following tables, giving 
enrollment, grades, ages and other statistics, are fur- 
nished by the Director of Evening and Continuation 
Schools. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



89 



CLASSIFICATION OF 588 BOYS, SHOWING THE NATURE OF 
THEIR EMPLOYMENT AND THE CHARACTER OF THEIR 
SCHOOL WORK. 



Classification in Industry. 


Pre- 
Vocational. 


General 
Improve- 
ment. 


Trade 
Extension. 


Production : 

Shoeworkers 


24 


4 
2 
3 




Printing 


1 


Plumber's helper 






Gasfitting 


1 




Machine shop 




1 


Tinsmith 




2 
1 
2 
1 
1 




Laundry 






Barber 






Engraving 


2 
3 
3 
2 

2 
2 
13 
3 
3 




Fisherman 




Leather apprentice 




Millwork 


6 




Woodworking 

Packing 


1 


4 
9 
3 
2 
2 
3 

— 45 

4 
2 

— 6 

7 

— 7 

1 
2 
6 
12 
4 

— 25 

86 
21 

19 
126 

209 




Shopwork 

Wire coiler 






Mattress factory 




Tailor 




Miscellaneous 


2 

— 60 

2 
4 

— 6 

6 

— 6 

2 
20 
10 
19 

2 

— 53 

197 
30 

13 
240 

365 




Bootblack 


— 3 


Usher, janitor 








Clerical : 

Office work 


11 


Mercantile : 


— 11 


Bundle boys 








Order boys 












Messengers : 

Errands 




Western Union and Postal tele- 




graph. 
Pedler helpers 










14 



Many boys classified under ''general improvement" 
are placed there temporarily. It is reported by the 
division head that probably a more correct classification 
will give a total to the pre-vocational of 465 and to the 
general improvement group of 109. 



90 



City Document No. 87. 



The figures for messengers are significant — 240 in the 
pre-vocational column and 126 in the general improve- 
ment column, a total of 366 out of 588 who are in the 
errand type of employment. 



CLASSIFICATION OF 518 GIRLS, SHOWING THE NATURE OF 
THEIR EMPLOYMENT AND THE CHARACTER OF THEIR 
SCHOOL WORK. 



Classification in Industry. 


Pre- 
Vocational. 


General 
Improve- 
ment. 


Trade 
Extension. 


Production: 

Shoeworkers 


Ill 

6 

17 

12 

8 
4 
1 

12 
2 
2 
2 

10 
7 
6 

20 

16 
5 
1 


1 




Paper folders 




Laying cloth 


1 
2 




Curtain trimming 




Waist finisher 




Stocking looper 


1 




Cloth trimmer 




Candy wrapper 


1 

1 




Dressmaking 


4 


Basting 


3 


Curtain folder 


1 
1 

2 




Sewing 


40 


Candy packer 




Color setter 




Shop work 


1 
3 

1 




Nail sorter 




Rag sorter 




Power machine 


3 


Millinery 




2 


Miscellaneous 


8 

— 250 

2 
2 
2 

— 6 

1 

1 
1 

— 3 

29 
4 
6 
4 
2 
1 

— 46 

122 

122 

427 






Personal Service: 

Waitress 


— 16 


— 52 


Housework 


2 


2 


Nurse 




Clerical : 

Bookkeeping 


— 2 


— 2 
3 


Addressing 






Office filing, etc 


1 
— 1 

1 
1 

4 
3 


3 


Mercantile: 

Bundle girls 


— 6 


Clerk 




Salesgirl 


1 


Cashier 




Stock girl 




Check girl 






Messengers: 

Stores, etc 


— 9 

2 

— 2 

30 


— 1 




61 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



91 



A large number of girls enter employment as low 
grade producers. This is not true of boys of this age. 



TOTAL NUMBER OF PUPILS IN COMPULSORY CONTINUATION 
SCHOOLS BY DEPARTMENTS. 

Number of Different Pupils Belonging on December 3, 1915. 



Boys. 



Gills. 



In Continuation Schools, La Grange Street: 



Entering group, 
Office practice, store practice, and general im- 
provement. 

Woodworking 

Metal working 

Printing 

Electricity 

Power machine operating 

Dressmaking 



Totals. 



In Department Stores: 

1. W. & A. Bacon Company. 

2. Jordan Marsh Company. . 

3. L. P. Hollander Company. 

4. R. H. White Company 



Totals. 



In Factories: 

1. Thomas G. Plant Company. . 

2. Thomson-Crocker Company. 

3. Boutwell, Fairclough & Gold. 

Totals 



In Rented Centers: 

1. 48 Boylston Street (Store Practice). 

2. 52 TUeston Street (Household Arts) , 



Totals . 



Pupils in transit or otherwise not accounted for in above 
figures 



Total males . . 
Total females. 



Unaccounted for. 
Total 



302 
399 

161 
221 
131 
196 
1 



1,411 



38 

21 

6 



65 



68 
9 
2 

79 



32 



32 

1,587 

56 

1,587 
1,206 

2,793 
56 

2,849 



102 
162 



96 
274 

643 



15 
40 
44 

99 



167 
20 
25 

212 



59 
195 

252 

1,206 



92 



City Document No. 87. 



RECEIVED CERTIFICATES FOR THE FIRST TIME. 
Reasons for Leaving School — June, 1915. 





Males. 

1 


FeijKfalcs. 


Total. 


1. Keasons related to economic conditions 

in the family. 

2. Reasons related to conditions in the 

school. 

3. Reasons related to personal feelings of 

child attitude of parents. 

4. Reasons related only to vocational op- 

jiortnnity offered. 

5. No reason given 


41 

G7 
4 
2 


30 

18 
8 


71 

85 

12 

2 


6. Will probably Avork only during vaca- 
tion. 


10 


7 


17 




124 


63 


187 



RECEIVED CERTIFICATES FOR THE FIRST TIME. 
Initial Wage — June, 1915. 





$1 


$2 


$3 


«4 


$5 


$G 


$7 


$8 


$9 


$10 


1| 
m a 

p 


o 
a 

V 


3 

o 


Males 




2 
3 


13 
G 


44 
12 


23 
2 


13 

1 










27 
33 


2 
4 


194 


Females .... 


1 


1 








68 












Totals 


1 


5 


19 


56 


25 


14 


1 








60 


6 


187 













NUMBER WHOSE PARENTS ARE NOT LIVING. 
Girls — June, 1915. 

Father. Mother. Both. Total. 

17 11 1 29 

The total lunnber from which this is taken, 141; slightly over 20 per 
cent. 



NUMBER WHOSE PARENTS ARE NOT LIVING. 
Boys — June, 1915. 



Father. 

32 



Mother. 

14 



Both. 



Total. 
4S 



The total number from which this is taken, 230; slightlj- over 20 per 
cent. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



93 



PUPILS ELIGIBLE FOR CONTINUATION SCHOOL RECEIVING 
CERTIFICATES FOR THE FIRST TIME. 

Boys — June, 1915. 



Occupation. 



Grade Last 

Attended in 

School. 



Age. 



Cotton mill 

Bootl)l;ick 

West(M-n Union Telegraph 

B()()tl)lack 

Grocery 

Barber (apprentice) 

Dime messenger 

Shoe factory 

Paperhanger 

Shoe factory 

Grocery 

Flori-st . .^ 

W(>stern Union Telegraph 

Office 

Dry goods 

Carpenter (apprentice) . . . 

Grocery 

lioothlack 

Peddler 

Jewelry factory 

Carpet factory 

Shoe factory 

Hardware store 

Grocery 

Western Union Telegraph 

Bottlfng 

Candy store 

l^akory 

Jewelry store 

Office. 

Machine shop 

Western Union Telegraph. 

Machine shop 

Office 

Shoe factory 

Department store 

Fishing 

Grocery 

Phiinl)er (apprentice) 

Machine shop 

Peddler 

Clothing factory 

Grocery 

Office 

Carpet factory 

Stationery store 

Piano factory 

Peddler 

Office. 

Druggist 



4 
5 

6 
6 

1st year IL S. 

7 

5 

() 

S 

S 

8 

8 

Graduated 

1st year IL S. 

1st year H. S. 

Pre-vocational 

7 

7 

7 

7 

Graduated 

1st year H. S. 

1st year H. S. 

7 

7 

4 

G 

Graduated 

1st year H. S. 

1st year H. S. 

1st year H. S. 

7 

7 

Graduated 

Graduated 

1st vear H. S. 

4 

5 

() 

() 

7 

7 

Graduated 

Graduated 

Graduated 

2d year IL S. 

7 

7 

Graduated 

1st year IL S. 



14 

14 

14 

14 

14 

14-1 

112 

11-2 

14-2 

14-2 

11 3 

I I A 

1 t-3 

14-3 

14-3 

14-3 

14-4 

14-4 

14-4 

14-4 

14-5 

14-5 

14-5 

14-6 

14-() 

14-7 

14-^7 

14-7 

14-7 

14-7 

14-7 

14-8 

14-8 

14-8 

14-8 

14-8 

14-9 

14-9 

14-9 

n !) 

14 9 

14-9 

14-9 

14-9 

14-9 

14-9 

14-10 

14-10 

14-10 

14-10 



25 



94 



City Document No. 87. 

Boys — June, 191 5. — Continued. 



Occupation. 



Grade Last 

Attended in 

School. 



Age. 



Office 

Bakery 

Shoe factory 

Cot ton mill 

Oflico 

I'aiiit store , 

Boston News Bureau 

Shoe factory 

Machine shop 

Department store , 

Machine shop , 

Grocery , 

Dime messenger , 

Peddler , 

Machine shop 

Clothing store 

Shoe store 

Druggist 

Machine shop 

Laundry 

Grocery 

Office 

Fruit store 

Grocery 

Grocery 

Office 

Dry goods 

Post card novelties 

Bakery 

Peddler 

Laundry 

Grocery 

Express company 

Machine shop 

Mattress factory 

Hardware store 

Curtain factory 

Button factory 

Grocery 

Electrician (apprentice) . . 

Dry goods 

Auto repair 

Clothing store 

Machine shop 

Fruit shop 

Grocery 

Parcel delivery 

Machine shop 

Boot Mack 

Clothing factory 

Grocery 

Western Union Telegraph 

Depart Miont store 

Cotton mill 



1st year H. S. 

f) 

7 

7 

8 

8 

Graduated 

1st year H. S. 

1st year H. S. 

2d year 11. S. 

5 

() 

7 

Graduated 

Graduated 



1st year 11. S. 

6 

7 

7 

8 
1st year II. S. 

5 

(5 

7 

7 

7 
2d year H. S. 





7 

7 

7 

8 
1st year II. S. 
1st year H. S. 
1st year H. S. 
1st year H. S. 
2d year H. S. 
3d year H. S. 
Graduated 

5 

G 

8 
1st year H. S. 
1st year H. S. 
3d year H. S. 

4 

4 

5 

7 
Graduated 
Graduated 



14-10 

14-11 

14-11 

14-11 

14-11 

14-11 

14-11 

14-11 

14-11 

14-11 

15 

15 

15 

15 

15 

15-1 
15-1 
15-2 
15-2 
15-2 
15-2 
15-2 
15-3 
15-3 
15-3 
15-3 
15-3 
15-3 
15^ 
15-4 
15-4 
15-4 
15^ 
15^ 
15-4 
15-4 
15-4 
15-4 
15-4 
15-4 
15-4 
15-4 
15-5 
15-5 
15-5 
15-5 
15-5 
15-5 
15-6 
15-6 
15-6 
15-6 
15-6 
15-6 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 

Boys — June, I9I5. — Concluded. 



95 



Occupation. 



Grade Last 

Attended in 

School. 



Age. 



1 Book store 

1 Office 

1 Wholesale rubber company . 



Grocery 

Fruit store 

Grocery 

Dime messenger 

Tailor 

Cotton mill 

Shoe factory 

Paint store 

Grocery 

Candy factory 

Western Union Telegraph . 

Shoe factory 

Newspaper 

Optician 

Shoe factory 

Dental laboratory 



Total . 



1st year H. S. 
1st year H. S. 
1st year H. S. 

5 

4 

6 

6 

7 

7 

Graduated 

Graduated 

Pre-vocational 

4 

7 

7 

8 

Graduated 

Graduated 

1st year H. S. 



15-6 
15-6 
15-6 



42 



16 
124 



PUPILS ELIGIBLE FOR CONTINUATION SCHOOL RECEIVING 
CERTIFICATES FOR THE FIRST TIME. 

Qirls — June, 1915. 



Occupation. 



Grade Last 

Attended in 

School. 



Age. 



1 Grocery 

1 Department store 

1 Shoe factory 

1 Candy factory 

1 American Water Supply (inspecting cups) . 

1 Candy store 

1 Tailor 

1 Grocery 

1 Grocery 

1 Department store 

1 Shoe factory 

1 Shoe factory 

1 Candy store 

1 Cotton factory 

1 Shoe factory 

1 Candy factory 

1 Fish factory 



5 

6 

6 

6 

7 

7 
Graduated 

5 ■ 

6 

7 

7 
Graduated 

6 

7 

8 

7 

8 



14 

14 

14 

14 

14 

14 

14 

14-1 

14^1 

14-1 

14-1 

14-1 

14-2 

14-2 

14-2 

14-3 

14-3 



96 



City Document No. 87. 

Girls — June, 1915. — Concluded. 



Occupation. 



Grade Last 

Attended in 

School. 



Age. 



Clothing factory. 
Shoe factory .... 
Fruit store 



Grocery 

Office 

Grocery 

Office 

Clothing factory . . 
Department store. 

Office 

Carpet factory . . . 

Fruit store 

Candy factory 

Nunse girl 

Cotton mill 

Tailor 



Curtain factory . . . 

Housework 

Department store. 
Clothing factory. . 

Shoe factory 

Jewelry factory . . . 

Grocery 

Cotton mill 

Clothing factory. . 
Clothing factory. . 
Candy factory .... 
Candy factory .... 

Shoe factory 

Printer 

Carpet factory . . . 
Clothing factory . . 

Cotton mill 

Grocery 

Nurse girl 

Office 

Shoe factory 



2 Clothing factory. . 

Nurse girl 

Department store. 

Office 

Office 

Curtain factory . . . 
Clothing factory . . 



Graduated 
1st year H. S. 

6 

6 

6 
2d year H. S. 

4 

4 

6 
1st year H. S. 

4 

4 

5 

6 
1st year H. S. 

6 

6 

6 
2d year H. S. 
2d year H. S. 

4 

5 
2d year H. S. 



S. 



2d year H. S. 
2d year H. S, 

5 

8 

Graduated 

1st year H. S. 

3d year H. S. 

3d year H. S. 

5 

7 

8 

Graduated 

1st year H. S. 

1st year H. S. 

1st year H. S. 



14-4 
14-4 
14-5 

14-8 

14-8 

14-8 

14-10 

14-10 

14-10 

14-10 

14-11 

14-11 

14-11 

14-11 

15 

15 

15-1 
15-1 
15-1 
15-2 
15-2 
15-3 
15-3 
15-3 
15-4 
15-4 
15-4 
15-5 
15-5 
15-5 
15-5 
15-6 
15-6 
15-6 
15-6 
15-6 
15-6 

15-7 

15-7 
15-7 
15-7 
15-7 
15-7 
15-7 



Total . 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



97 









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98 City Document No. 87. 

A study of the tables shows that the average length of 
attendance in the school is short. Of the 124 boys who 
entered the school in June, 1915, 58 were over fifteen 
years of age (nearly 50 per cent) and of the girls, 30 were 
over fifteen years of age. During this same month there 
were 38 children who entered the school giving their 
ages as fifteen years, six months and over. The term of 
attendance, therefore, of more than 50 per cent of the 
children is less than one year. An extension of the age 
of required attendance in these schools would be of 
benefit to these children. 

The table showing the grade last attended by children 
receiving employment certificates for the first time from 
April to November, 1915, indicates that large numbers 
come from each of the grades above the fourth and below 
the second year of the high school. Thirty-nine per cent 
of the children enrolled during this period left school in 
grades below the eighth. Thirty-five per cent of the 
children left school either from the eighth grade or as 
elementary school graduates. Twenty-six per cent left 
at some time during their high school course below the 
fourth year. 

The continuation school in Boston or in any other 
city faces a problem of great magnitude and complexity. 
This school deals with the large number of children who 
leave school and go to work in unequal numbers during 
each school month. Children attend the school for 
periods varying from four months to two years. They 
come from practically all grades from the fourth grade 
elementary to the third year high school. They are 
working in a large variety of occupation's. 

Conclusions and Recommendations. 

The school aims to give educational and vocational 
help to children fourteen to sixteen years of age who have 
entered employment. The committee believes that the 
school is realizing this aim in carrying on this work at a 
cost which is not excessive. Continued experience in 
the work will make it still more effective. All employers 
of these children who were questioned about the value 
of the continuation school to their employees expressed 
a favorable opinion. 

Children of these ages enter employment either as a 
result of economic necessity, or because they were unable 
to pursue regular school courses advantageously. The 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 99 

Continuation School gives them an opportunity for 
improvement when they most need it. The city cannot 
afford to neglect its responsibility to these children. The 
four hours per week of school work which are specifically 
applied to the needs of each individual probably has an 
educational value several times as great as an equal time 
given in the regular schools. The cost of this work is 
not out of proportion to that of courses given to children 
of the same age in the regular schools. 

One of the contributions that the Continuation School 
makes for fourteen and sixteen year old children is 
secured through the vocational guidance and personal 
follow-up-work. 

It is evident from a study of this school that it renders 
a great service in connection with general improvement 
work which is based for the most part on the experiences 
of the pupils. 

The committee recommends that the experiment be 
continued according to the plans already made, believing 
that the school has already demonstrated its worth and 
that it is efficiently meeting a distinct responsibility that 
is not discharged by any other institution. 

The Trade School for Girls. 

The Trade School for Girls was opened in July, 1904, 
under private auspices. The School Committee, in 
cooperation with the State Board of Education, assumed 
responsibility for the school in September, 1909. 

By meeting certain standards, the school is approved 
by the state and the city is reimbursed from the state 
treasury for one half of the maintenance expenditures. 

Aim. 

This school plans to train girls fourteen to twenty-five 
years of age for profitable employment in millinery, 
power machine operating and catering. The Girls' 
Trade School puts special emphasis on training for the 
handicraft trades as shown by the enrollment of the 
school on November 30, when 87 per cent of the member- 
ship was in the dressmaking and millinery trades. 

Organization. 

The staff of the school is organized as follows: Master, 
1 ; first assistants, 4 ; assistants, 2 ; vocational assistants, 



100 City Document No. 87. 

2; trade assistants, 1; helpers, 14; aids, 17; students' 
aids, 4; bookkeepers, 1; clerical assistants, 1; assistant 
instructor of physical training, 1 ; a total staff of 59. 

The enrollment of the school by departments Novem- 
ber 30, 1915, was as follows: Dressmaking, 398; millinery, 
94; machine operating, 47; catering, 27. The total 
enrollment was 566. The total enrollment of the school 
for 1914-15 was 772. 

The school has a daily session of eight and one-half 
hours, a longer day than is given in most trade schools. 
The term is forty weeks of forty-two and one-half hours. 
The course is two years in length. Each department of 
the school has a separate organization. One fifth of 
the time is given to academic work. The school is 
organized to place the girls in employment and to keep 
a follow-up record of each girl for several years after 
she leaves the school. 

Plant. 

The school is located at 616, 618 and 620 Massachu- 
setts avenue. Number 620 was formerly used as a 
convent school, numbers 616 and 618 were residences. 
The plant has an assembly room, also serving as a gym- 
nasium, offices, work rooms, class room, power-operating 
room and lunch rooms. The school is crowded, many 
of the work rooms are small, and the girls work under 
unfavorable conditions. 



Characteristics of the Work. 

The work of the school is based on orders for custom 
trade or on the needs of the school itself, as in the cater- 
ing department. The extent to which the order work 
is produced is shown by a report on the amount of 
income for the sale of product, $11,159.25, as given on 
page 108, Bulletin No. 43, State Board of Education, 
1913-14, and by a report from the Business Agent show- 
ing cash received from work and products as $10,584.44 
for the nine months, December 1, 1914, to August 31, 
1915. This large amount of business is an indication 
that the product met commercial standards. 

.The principal of the school reports that the average 
length of time these girls spend in preparing for the 
trades is as follows : Dressmaking, 15 months; millinery, 
14 months; straw machine operating, 15 months; cloth 
machine operating, 12 months; catering, 14 months. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 101 

While the length of the course in the school is given as 
two years, the actual time spent by the girls varies 
according to individual abihties. As soon as the girls 
are prepared to enter trades, they are allowed to leave 
the school and are assisted in finding positions. The 
number of girls placed in the trades is shown in the 
table of statistics given on page 113. In 1914-15, 163 
entered the trade trained for. 

The girls who enter this school show a strong pref- 
erence for hand needlework. Girls who have failed to 
do successful work in any of the handicraft trades are 
urged to take up power-operating. Girls who know how 
to operate power machines are in demand in the City 
of Boston. The initial wage and the opportunities for 
advancement compare favorably with those of many of 
the occupations for women. Considerable attention 
has been given to this matter by the School Committee 
and advisory board of the school, conferences have been 
held, a report has been made, and an experimental 
branch is being conducted in North Bennet street, in 
order to determine what should be done to make the 
training in power-operating effective. The Girls' Trade 
School is not in a location which attracts girls to it 
who expect to enter power-operating. The School 
Committee has been asked to establish branches of the 
school for training in power-operating in the districts 
where this industry is located. 

Costs and Statistics. 

The accompanying table furnished by the Business 
Agent covers expenditures for the Trade School for 
Girls from December 1, 1910, to August 31, 1915. 



102 



City Document No. 87. 



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Report on Boston Public Schools. 103 

Owing to the fact that the returns for 1914 cover 
expenditures only to August 31 instead of November 30, 
these figures do not offer a basis of determining actual 
cost, hence the figures for 1913-14 are selected as a basis 
of determining the per capita costs. Since the Business 
Agent's statement does not differentiate between the 
day and evening work, returns for this year are taken 
from the report of the Commissioner of Education, . 
Bulletin No. 43, and are as follows : 

Administration $7,385 78 

Operation of plant 4,407 43 

Upkeep of plant 2,231 82 

Teachers' salaries 31,101 67 

Instruction charges 11,131 95 

Total maintenance expenditures $56,258 65 

Average enrollment 368 

Average attendance 326 

Per Capita Cost Based On: 

Average Average 

Enrollment. Attendance. 

Overhead charge $20 07 $22 66 

Instruction 84 52 95 41 

Instruction supplies 30 24 34 14 

Upkeep and plant operation 18 03 20 36 

Total $152 88 $172 57 

Reduced by value of product per capita 34 80 39 60 

Net per capita cost $118 08 $132 97 

The work of the Manhattan Trade School of New 
York City is comparable with that of the Boston Trade 
School. The per capita cost for the Manhattan Trade 
School based on average daily attendance is reported to 
be $133.33 without deducting the value of the product, 
and $99.01 for the net per capita cost with the value of 
the product deducted. The average daily attendance is 
513. These figures are taken from the annual financial 
and statistical report of the Board of Education, New 
York City, The statement of product for the Boston 
Trade School for Girls, 1913-14, is: 

Total product, cash and credit $11,159 25 

Product for school itself 82 01 

Product for other city departments 1,567 00 

Total product $ 12,808 26 

The net pupil hour cost based on enrollment was $0 . 089 

The net pupil hour cost based on attendance was .10 



104 City Document No. 87. 

The above facts show that the school is economically 
managed and efficiently administered. A very large 
proportion of the product is sold for actual cash. The 
nature of the product is such that it sells more readily 
for cash than that which the boys produce^. The reim- 
bursement from the state treasury was $20,531.44. The 
statistics furnished by the principal of the school show, 
by years and by trades, the enrollment, the number 
having taken training and having entered the trades. 

The following report concerning the enrollment and 
attendance and placement of girls, including the notes, 
was furnished by the principal of the school. 



RiJpoRT ON Boston Public Schools. 



105 



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106 



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Report on Boston Public Schools. 107 



» Conclusion and Recommendation. 

The records of the school are completely and carefully 
kept. The committee has been able to secure full infor- 
mation from this school promptly and in detail. 

The school meets the demands fairly well for training 
in the trades which the school is emphasizing. 

The cash return indicates that the product turned out 
meets commercial standards. 

The table of statistics indicates that the school is suc- 
cessful in placing the girls in the trades. 

Complete figures on the number of employees in hand 
needlework and in power-operating in Boston were not 
obtained, but there are indications that the number of 
hand needleworkers is diminishing and that the number 
of power operators is increasing. 

It is the opinion of the committee that definite plans 
should be made for a continued study of the possibilities 
for training in other lines of women's work, such as 
power machine operating, and for the establishment of 
branches of the school as needs are determined in parts 
of the city that are centers for the various industries 
employing women. 

Boston Industrial School for Boys. 

The Industrial School for Boys was opened in May, 
1911, in the Brimmer. building on Common street. The 
school is state-aided. 

Aim. 

The aim of the course in the Industrial School for 
Boys is to offer training for boys, 14 to 25 years of age, 
for profitable employment in machine shop practice, 
cabinet making, carpentry, printing, electrical work 
and sheet metal work. In addition to the age require- 
ment for admission, boys must be able to pass the working 
certificate test, and should establish the presumption 
that they can take the course profitably. 

Organization. 

Training in shop work is based on the turning out of 
commercial products. Half of the time is devoted to 
shop practice and half of the time to studies related to 
the trade and to subjects of a general improvement 



108 City Document No. 87. 

nature, such as citizenship, EngUsh, etc. The day ses- 
sion is six and a half hours, with 32^ hours pes week. 
The term is 40 weeks and the course is two years. 

The staff is organized as follows: Master, division 
heads — electrical department, 1 ; machine department, 
1; printing department, 1;. sheet metal department, 1; 
woodworking department, 1 ; instructors — academic 
and technial branches, 3 ; shop instructors — machine 
department, 1; woodworking department, 1; electrical 
department, 1 ; assistant shop instructors — electrical 
department, 1; bookkeeper, 1; clerical assistant, 1. 

Each trade department is treated as a separate school. 
All of the shop training, drawing, related work and 
general education work are given by instructors devoting 
their full time to one department. As far as possible, 
the instructors of related subjects are drawn from the 
specific trades. The establishment of the school is 
authorized under the statutes of chapter 471, Acts of 
1911. The state and city cooperate in the support and 
maintenance of the school. The City of Boston owns 
the entire plant and equipment. The state reimburses 
the city for one half of the maintenance expenditures, 
subject to the requirements as to conditions of work and 
efficiency set up by the State Board of Education. 
Some of the standards established by the state are : 

1. That not more than sixteen boys be allowed to 
one teacher. 

2. That there shall be efficient and up-to-date equip- 
ment for the trade to be taught. 

3. That shop teachers shall have had at least eight 
years' actual trade practice. 

4. That the teachers of drawing and related work 
shall have had trade experience. 

The state does not direct the operation of the school 
but simply sets up standards that must be met in order 
to secure state reimbursement. The trade practice 
given the students must necessarily be based on the 
turning out of product meeting commercial standards. 
This product must be turned out by the production 
methods practised in the trade. 

Plant. 

The school is located in the old Brimmer building. 
Considerable remodeling and repairing of the building 
were necessary to adapt it to the purpose of trade train- 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



109 



ing. The building is limited in capacity to about 160 
boys and is not well adapted to the purpose for which 
it is used. A new building which is in the process of 
erection will be occupied by the school next fall. The 
principal of the school reports that there is a waiting list 
of 400. The new building will have an estimated 
capacity of 600 boys. About $200,000 is being expended 
in the construction and equipping of this building. 

Characteristics of the Work. 

There are two bases for forming judgment of the 
character of the work. First, as to the product that is 
turned out. Second, as to the placing of boys in the 
trade for which they were trained. The following state- 
ment shows the value of product. 



AVERAQE PRODUCT PER BOY BY DEPARTMENTS FOR THE 
YEAR 1914-15. 

(Total Product of Department Divided by Average Membership.) 



Departments. 



Total 
Product. 



Average 
Membership. 



Average 
Product 
per Boy. 



Cabinetmaking, carpentry and 
patternmaking. 

Printing 

Machine shop 

Electrical 

Sheet metal 



12,102 54 

1,139 49 
358 50 

3,135 00 
453 39 



38 

33 
30 
55 
21 



$55 33 

34 53 
11 95 
57 00 
21 59 



110 



City Document No. 87. 







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Report on Boston Public Schools. 



Ill 



The work in the shops is conducted in a business-Uke 
manner. The boys attend to their work seriously, the 
processes are typical of those of the commercial shops, 
and the product has considerable value. The other 
basis for judging the work of the school, namely, that 
of placing the boys in the trades for which they are 
trained, is, perhaps, more vital than that of product. 
The table of statistics furnished by the master of the 
school indicates the development for the past four years 
in enrollment and number placed in the trade. 



BOYS' INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL. 





OS (u 

h o 


2^ 
■^ S 


If 




Total enrollment: 

Electrical work 


33 
24 
21 


49 
40 
25 


65 
34 
27 
23 
40 

189 

58 
30 
23 
11 
35 

157 

54 
26 
20 
16 
32 

148 

13 
3 
3 

7 


69 


Machine work 


44 


Printing 


41 


Woodwork 


21 


Sheet metal work 


20 
98 

30 
19 
15 


43 
157 

36 

27 
22 


47 


Total 


222 


Average membership : 

Electrical work 


56 


Machine work 


33 


Printing 


32 


Woodwork 


14 


Sheet metal work 


16 
80 

28 
18 
14 


30 
115 

33 

26 
20 


37 


Total 


172 


Average attendance: 

Electrical work 


53 


Machine work 


30 


Printing 


27 


Woodwork 


13 


Sheet metal work 


15 

75 


28 
107 


34 


Total 


157 


Graduates : 

Electrical work 


16 


Machine work 






8 


Printing 






8 


Woodwork 




1 


9 


Sheet metal work 




1 


Total 




1 


26 


42 









112 



City Document No. 87. 



Boys' Industrial School. — Concluded. 





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Returned to regular school : 

Electrical work 

Machine work 

Printing 

Woodwork 

Sheet metal work 



Total . 



Left school — unknown: 
Electrical work. ... 

Machine work 

Printing 

Woodwork 

Sheet metal work. . , 



Total . 



Number placed in other 
that trained for: 

Electrical work 

Machine work 

Printing 

Woodwork 

Sheet metal work. . . . 



occupation than 



Total. 



Number placed in trade trained for : 

Electrical work , 

Machine work , 

Printing 

Woodwork 

Sheet metal work 



Total. 



10 



10 



14 
5 
3 

10 



32 



11 
15 

8 
9 



43 



20 

9 

5 

10 

14 

58 



14 

12 

6 

14 



46 



25 



16 
13 
10 
12 

7 

58 



5 
9 
4 
3 
5 

26 



18 
11 

7 
11 

1 

48 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



113 



COSTS AND STATISTICS. 

The Accompanying Table Prepared by the Business Agent Shows 
the Cost of the School for a Period Covering Approximately 
Four Years. 



Dec. 1, 1914 

to Aug. 31, 

1915. 



Dec. 1, 1913, 

to Nov. 30, 

1914. 



May 1, 1911, 

to Nov. 30, 

1913. 



Administration : 

Supervision and general charges 
outside school stafT. 

Office expenditures * 

Instruction : 

Directors 

Teachers 

Materials 

Auxiliary agencies 

Plant operation 

Repairs and replacements t 

New buildings and grounds 

Old building alterations 

Equipment, nevsr, with cartage, etc., 

on same. 
All other items not classified 



Total J. 



Income: 

Tuition claims § 

Cash received from work and prod- 
ucts. 

Total income 



Net total t. 



$1,506 18 

1,456 61 

2,943 00 

15,741 83 

3,122 73 



3,266 12 

388 18 

63,459 47 



$1,563 81 

1,113 G7 

3,546 00 

17,837 35 

3,846 92 

4 72 

3,318 39 

554 96 

16,115 95 



$1,828 14 

1,326 58 

6,275 00 

25,614 24 

5,816 14 



5,619 17 
1,979 86 



900 80 



2,822 39 



91,300 00 
6,968 99 



$92,784 92 



$50,724 16 



$146,728 12 



$1,254 50 
728 32 



$2,149 50 
1,220 42 



$2,603 60 
325 79 



$1,982 82 



?,369 92 



?,929 39 



),802 10 



$47,354 24 



$143,798 73 



* Including clerical services. 

t To buildings and equipment. 

t Exclusive of interest and sinking fund charges. 

§ Paid or unpaid. 

il The $91,300 represents the value of the Brunmer bmlding. 



Owing to the change of the date of the financial year 
to September 1, 1915, instead of December 1, 1915, the 
column dated December 1, 1914, to August 31, 1915, 
covers a period of nine months. This makes the figures 
for expenditures for this period misleading as to the 
actual cost for either one year or nine months owing to 
the fact that expenditures for certain materials and 
supplies are made for the entire year. The figures for 
the year December 1, 1913, to November 30, 1914, have 
been used in compiling a brief study of the per capita 
costs in the school. 



114 



City Document No. 87. 



BOSTON INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS. 
Expenditures, December 1, 1913, to November 30, 1914. 





- 


Per Capita 

on Basis 

of 164 

Enrolled. 


Per Capita 

on Basis 

of 148 

Average 

Attendance. 


Overhead charges, supervision and 

general charges outside of staff 

Office expenditures 

Director's salary 


$1,563 81 
1,113 67 
3,546 00 


$37 94 

108 76 
23 46 

" 23 64 




Total overhead charge 

Instruction, teachers' salaries 

Instruction supplies 

Plant operation $3,318 39 

Upkeep 554 96 

Auxiliaries 4 72 


$6,223 48 

17,837 35 

3,846 92 

3,878 07 


$42 05 
120 52 

25 99 

26 20 






$31,785 82 


$193 80 


$214 76 


The above figures are for maintenance 
charges only and do not take any 
credit for product into account. 
The report for this school on value 
of product turned out this same 
year is given at 


$5,815 50 


$35 03 
158 77 


$39 22 


If the school were credited for all of 
its product, the net per capita cost 
would be 


175 54 









It is noticeable that the overhead charges are equal 
to the average per capita cost for total maintenance in 
the elementary schools. This overhead maintenance 
charge is -considerably out of proportion to the other 
charges owing to the limited capacity of the school. 
With the increased enrollment in the new building it 
should be possible to reduce this cost. 

The instruction charge is not excessive for efficient 
trade training. An instructor cannot keep more than 
sixteen boys advantageously employed in a shop at 
one time. 

The pupil hour cost estimated on the basis of average 
attendance is $0.16|. If the allowance for product is 
made, the net pupil hour cost on the basis of average 
attendance is $0.13|. The City of Boston received 
as reimbursement from the state treasury $14,207.95 
as one half of the net maintenance charges. 



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COMPARATIVE TABLE OF PER CAPITA COSTS PER STUDENT HOUR AND PER CAPITA PRODUCTIVITY PER STUDENT HOUR FOR EACH BOYS' DAY INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL, AND FOR EACH DEPARTMENT IN THE SCHOOL. 

AND THE RELATIVE POSITION OF EACH. (OUR FIGURES) 1914=15. 



The Black Type Fioures in this Column Show the Average per 
Capita Student Hour Comt of all Boys' Day Industrial Schools 

AND OF THB.VaUIOUS DEPARTMENTS IN TlIIS TyPE OF SCHOOL. . Ill 


Boston. 


HOLYOKE. 


Lowell. 


i New Bedford. 


1 

1 Newton. 


Northampton. 


QOINCT 

(Full Time). 


Somehville. 


Springfield. 




W18TFIELD. 


WoRC«8T»R. 


The Italicized Figures in this Column show the Average per Capita Student 
Hour Productivity of the Schools and Deparlmcnts Above-named. .089 


Per 
Capita. 


Position. 


Per 
Capita. 


Position. 


Per 
Capita. 


Position. 


Per 
Capita. 


Position. 


Per 
Capita. 


Position. 


Per 
Capita. 


Position. 


Per 
Capita. 


Position. 


Per 
Capita. 


Position. 


Per 
Capita. 


Position. 


Per 
Capita. 


Position. 


Per 
Capita. 


Position. 




.156 


2.10 


.148 
.033 


2.06 
1.83 


.109 

.036 


1.61 
1.94 


.138 

.O4Z 


1.91 
2.33 


.129 

' .028 

.156 
.070 


1.82 

1.55 

2.30 
1.80 


.235 

.are 


3.26 
4.16 


.105 

.028 


1.46 

1.55 


.114 
.031 

.108 
.038 

.213 

.im 


1.68 

1.72 

1.68 
1.02 

2.63 
3.00 


.135 

.078 

.165 
.093 

.147 
.041 


1.87 
4.33 

2.4IB 
2.51 

1.76 
1.05 


.089 
.018 


1.2s 
1.00 


.072 
.029 

.068 
.037 

.084 
.040 

.071 
.008 

.068 
.036 

.080 

.023 

.272 
. 191 

.048 
.009 

.068 
.046 


1.00 




1.61 




1.00 
































1.00 








.154 
.068 


1.83 
1.47 


.099 
.039 


1.17 
1.00 


.129 
.063 


1.63 
1.61 


.235 

.076 


2.80 
1.92 










1.00 




















1.17 




















1.00 


008 Productivity 










































1.00 




.159 
. 156 


2. 33 

* 

1.96 






.116 
.061 

.116 

.040 


1.70 
3.91 

1.46 
3.07 


.118 
.031 

.147 
.037 


1.73 
2.38 

1.83 
2.84 


.127 
.029 

.112 
.014 


1.89 
1.53 

1.40 
1.07 






.113 
.013 


1.66 
1.00 














1.00 


.032 Productivity 






















2.70 


.137 
.020 


1.71 
1.53 






.098 
.013 


1.22 
1.00 


.121 

.062 


1.61 
4.77 


.089 
.018 


1.11 
1.38 


1.00 


.028 Productivity 










1.77 










1.00 


.101 Productivity 










































1.00 








.173 
.04£ 

.138 
.018 


3. GO 
4.66 

2.03 
1.00 










.187 
.039 

.123 
.035 


3.93 
4.33 

1.83 
1.94 














.155 
.066 

.115 

.163 


3.22 
6.22 

1.69 
9.05 






1.00 


.036 Productivity 






























1.00 




.140 


2.06 

1.00 

* 


























1.00 


. 065 Productivity 


























2.55 




.172 




























* Productivity 




















































.190 
.045 


3.22 
2.14 


























.059 
.021 


1.00 


. 033 Productivity 






































1.00 




.158 

* 


1.60 

* 


















.098 
.041 


1.00 
1.00 
















,041 Productivity 












































.082 
.008 


1.00 
1.00 






























.008 Productivity 





















































































' Returns available for only part of the year. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 115 



Conclusions and Recommendations. 

The school must necessarily be judged by the charac- 
ter of the training it gives and by the number of boys 
it places in the trades they are trained for. The report 
of the number of boys placed in the trades trained for 
indicates considerable improvement in tlu; year 1914-15 
as compared to previous years. Twenty-eight per cent 
of the average enrollment for the entire school went 
into the trade trained for in 1914-15 and 15 per cent 
went into other trades than those trained for. If the 
percentage were based on the number in the second 
year class it would probably show that over 50 per 
cent entered the trades trained for. This indicates 
that the basis of selection of pupils has been more 
closely adjusted to the aims of the school than was the 
case in former years. 

In order that a school may know whether its pupils 
are properly trained for their trade records of the 
experiences of those who have entered employment 
should be kept for a number of years. At present 
little is known about boys who have gone out into the 
trades. A vocational assistant has been recently en- 
gaged to follow up the boys who have entered the trades. 

The methods of instruction and the character of the 
product turned out meet the aim of the school. So far 
as school conditions make it possible the shops are of a 
commercial type. As pointed out above, the cost of 
the school is very high. It must be recognized that the 
school has been in existence only four years, is in the 
promotion stage and is preparing to go into a large 
building involving additional expenditures. 

The school should reduce its per capita cost. When 
the school is larger a less overhead per capita cost will 
be incurred for supervision and general administration. 
Probably the most effective means of reducing the cost 
of operating the Industrial School is by the increased 
efficiency of production in the shops. The school 
should reduce its operating costs by producing a large 
quantity of product that is needed by the various 
school departments under a system of crediting the 
school with the actual value of the product. Of all 
the possibilities for reducing the per capita cost of the 
school this calls for the most consideration. Work 
for the various departments affords valuable trade 
experience. All of the available educational oppor- 



116 City Document No. 87. 

tunities in doing work on school plants or equipment 
should be utihzed. Some organization should be estab- 
lished whereby selections from the requisitions made 
on the Schoolhouse Commissioner and on the Business 
Agent could be made by a member of the directing 
staff and who would distribute them to the various 
industrial types of schools as pre-vocational, part time 
continuation and trade training. A system of account- 
ing should also be adopted whereby each department 
would receive proper credit for its product and this 
credit be considered in computing costs. The require- 
ments set up for efficient trade teaching hmit the number 
of boys to a teacher, hence the teaching costs cannot 
be materially reduced. 

The pre-vocational schools are established with one 
of their aims to give a try-out experience in a number of 
occupations to enable boys to make an intelligent choice 
of trades. Very few pre-vocational students, however, 
enter the Industrial School. As a matter of educational 
and economic efficiency it is desirable that the opera- 
tion of these two types of schools be adjusted to insure 
a larger number of pre-vocational boys entering the 
Industrial School. 

The Mechanic Arts High School and the part time 
cooperative course offer trade training on different plans. 
In the next few years experience with these three types 
of trade training will probably indicate which plan is the 
most effective. 

The committee believes the Industrial School is 
giving efficient trade training and recommends that the 
plan for expansion of the work be carried out. 

Part Time Cooperative Course in the Hyde 
Park High School. 

The part time cooperative course in the Hyde Park 
High School was organized in 1913. A number of metal 
working industrial plants in Hyde Park cooperate with 
the high school in giving training. 

Aim. 

The aim of the course is to conduct a high school 
course for boys n which they may receive the essentials 
of a high school education and at the same time get 
actual experience in an industrial shop so as to acquire 
trade knowledge and skill in some one specific trade. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



117 



Organization. 

During the first year all of the time is spent at the 
high school. In the last three years of the course half 
time is devoted to work in Hyde Park shops with the 
pay of an apprentice. In conducting this course the 
school has the cooperation of the manufacturing indus- 
tries of the Hyde Park district. The boys begin work 
on pay in these shops at the beginning of the summer 
vacation following their first year in the high school. 

In the various Hyde Park industrial plants there is 
opportunity to choose from the following trades for a 
part time course: 



Blacksmith. 
Machinist. 



Molding. 

Sheet Metal Work. 



The course of study as at present being carried out 
gives a fair idea of the work being done. 



FIRST YEAR. 



Stjbject. 




Points. 



English 

Industrial mathematics 

Elementary science 

Bench work, including drafting 

Military drill 

Chorus singing 

Hygiene 



22 



As part of the regular work of the first year, frequent 
excursions are made to the various manufacturing 
establishments in Hyde Park. These visits will help 
the pupil to decide upon the trade to be learned. 



118 



City Document No. 87. 

SECOND YEAR. 



Subject. 



Periods. Points 



English 

Industrial mathematics 

Industrial gcogi-aphy 

Physics .- 

Drafting (two prepared periods and three unprepared), 

Bench work (with prepared work) 

Military drill 

Chorus singing or orchestra 

During every other week the pupil works at his 
chosen trade in some Hyde Park industrial estab- 
lishment, receiving the pay of an apprentice. 

Diploma points for this work 



2^ 
2h 

ih 

2 

1 
1 



10 



Total points . 



22^ 



THIRD YEAR. 
School Attendance Alternates Each Week with the Work 
Hyde Park Manufacturing Establishments. 



in the 



Subject. 



Periods. 



Points. 



English 

Industrial mathematics 

Industrial history 

Chemistry 

Drafting (two prepared and three unprepared periods), 

Bench work (with prepared work) 

Military drill 

Chorus singing or orchestra 

Diploma points for work in the Hyde Park shops on 
alternate weeks 



5 


2h 


5 


2h 


3 


U 


4 


2 


5 


u 


2 


1 


2 


1 


1 


h 



10 



Total points . 



22i 



FOURTH YEAR. 
School Attendance Alternates Weekly with the Work in the Shop. 



Subject. 



Periods. 



Points. 



English 

Industrial mathematics 

Civil government 

Applied science 

Drafting (two prepared periods and three unprepared). 

Bench work (with prepared work) 

Military drill 

Chorus singing or orchestra 

Diploma points for work in the Hyde Park shops on 
alternate weeks 



Total points . 



5 


2i 


5 


2k 


3 


U 


4 


2 


5 


U 


2 


1 


2 


1 


1 


i 



10 
22^ 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 119 

1. A boy is not allowed to enter upon the last three 
years of the cooperative industrial course unless he has 
firmly decided to learn a definite trade and has the 
consent of his parents. 

2. A boy must work at his trade 7,560 hours before 
completing his term of apprenticeship. This is divided 
into three periods of 2,520 hours each. 

3. During the first period the pay is 8 cents per hour. 
During the second period the pay is 10 cents per hour. 
During the last period the pay is 12 cents per hour. 
This arrangement of periods and pay has been agreed 
to by all of the shops in which the boys work. 

4. Boys are to work at their trades during vacations. 
A vacation of two weeks in the summer may be taken 
if desired, but the number of hours thus lost must be 
made up before the term of apprenticeship is regarded 
as completed. 

5. Boys are to observe the regular hours established 
by the shops in which they work, and are not to be 
absent without permission. 

6. The School Committee of the City of Boston 
awards a diploma of graduation at the end of four years, 
provided there has been yearly promotion in the school 
studies. 

7. After graduation from high school the entire 
time can be given to completing the number of hours 
of apprenticeship remaining in the required total of 
7,560 hours. 

The Associate Director of Manual Arts directs the 
work. Two instructors are employed in connection 
with the mechanical instruction of the school. One of 
the instructors, known as the ''coordinator," assists 
part time in the school and part time in the industrial 
shops arranging for placement and inspecting and 
reporting on the work of the students. The first year 
of the course is given entirely in the school plant. The 
shop instruction for this year is entirely in woodwork. 
The school has a limited metal working equipment 
which is not used at present owing to lack of room. An 
extension is planned for this building in which will be 
installed a series of shops representing the metal working 
industries which are prominent in the Hyde Park section. 

The enrollment by years is : 

First year class, all school time ... 60 boys 

Second year class, part time .... 22 boys 

Third year class, part time .... 6 boys 

Fourth year class, part time .... 4 boys 



120 City Document No. 87. 

At present the academic work of the part time classes 
is taught b}?- the regular high school staff. Part of the 
time of the shop instructor is devoted to teaching manual 
training to regular high school students. As the part 
time department increases in size it will be necessary 
to organize the teaching stafT of the regular^high school 
and of the part time department as two distinct units. 
The aims and practices of each are unlike, and if they 
are not clearly defined in organization as well as in 
practice there is danger that one will react on the other 
with disadvantages to both. 

A committee composed of employers and employees 
in the locality assists the school staff in an advisory 
capacity. At present the industrial shop experience 
is unorganized, but the coordinating instructor is work- 
ing on a plan for systematizing the experience of the 
boys in the various plants. This work is not state 
aided. 

Costs and Statistics. 
The figures presented by the Business Agent are 
as follows: 



COOPERATIVE COURSE — HYDE PARK HIQH SCHOOL. 
Financial Year 1914-15. 

Salary of principal $239 04 

Salaries of clerks 53 71 

Salaries of teachers 1,557 62 

Salaries, physical education teachers 137 27 

Manual training supplies and equipment .... 94 26 

Drawing supplies and equipment 24 67 

All other supplies and incidentals . . . . . . 249 70 

Supervision 192 18 

Salaries of janitors 150 05 

Fuel Ill 43 

Light 12 99 

Power 2 33 

Janitors' supplies 13 89 

* $2,839 14 

Average attendance f 40 

Cost per pupil $70 . 98 

N. B. — All of the above figures are pro-rated. 

These figures are based on the assumption that both 
boys of an alternating pair (i. e., one in the shop and 
one in the school) are receiving instruction. 

* Exclusive of lands and buildings, furniture and furnishings, repairs, depreciation, 
interest and sinking fund charges. 

t Average membership is practically the same as average attendance. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 121 



Conclusions and Recommendations. 

The part-time plan in the Hyde Park School is an 
experiment and is still in a developmental stage. The 
work in the school is seriously handicapped by the 
limitations of shop facilities and by the employment 
of the same school stafT for the regular high school 
courses and the cooperative courses. 

The progress made under these handicaps is such as 
to warrant the providing of more extended equipment 
for the metal working trades and a separate teaching 
staff as the enrollment increases. 

The willingness of the industrial plants to cooperate 
with the school indicates that they value the plan. The 
establishment of 7,560 hours of shop practice as a re- 
quirement for apprenticeship was agreed upon by the 
Advisory Board in conference with the directing staff of 
the school. 

The cost of this type of high school education is not 
excessive, as the boys are in the school building but 
half the time after the first year. The cost of the trade 
instruction proper is borne by the industrial plant. If 
the shop training is properly organized the part-time 
trade experience has advantages over the usual trade 
school experience. If the academic studies are well 
balanced in relation to the trade work this training 
will be superior to the usual high school course for an 
apprentice. 

There has been some consideration given to the 
advisability of organizing this part-time plan as a state 
aided department. The State Board of Education has 
proposed certain conditions as to selection of teachers, 
equipment and organization of work under which state 
aid can be given. This committee recommends that 
such steps be taken and believes that in this way the 
part-time work will be materially strengthened. If 
these steps are taken the committee believes that this 
type of work is worthy of trial in other centers where 
the necessary cooperation can be secured on the part of 
employers. In the opinion of the committee the part- 
time plan, if properly organized, will eventually assume 
larger proportions as a means for industrial education. 



122 City Document No. 87, 



Vocational Guidance. 
Aim. 

The aim of the vocational guidance workers in Boston 
is: 

Guidance — the presenting of information about 
occupations. 

Placement — the bringing together of suitable workers 
and employers. 

Follow-up work — at the places of employment and 
the homes as a basis for further guidance. 

Organizaiioji. 

The department is under an acting du*ector. Schools 
having a vocational aim, such as the Trade School for 
Girls. High School of Commerce and the High School 
of Practical Arts, have instructors or division heads 
assigned to guidance, placement, and follow-up work. 
The Boys' Industrial School will have a vocational 
assistant appointed in January, 1916. The Continua- 
tion School has a special organization for this work. 
Each instructor is required to give two hours daily to 
follow-up work. A division head directs this function 
of the school. In the elementary schools certain 
teachers do this work voluntarily in addition to their 
regular duties. 

The acting director assists the vocational guidance 
workers by holding conferences and by furnisliing 
information relating to guidance. The placement of 
high school students is cared for in the office of the 
acting director. 

A Placement Bureau located in the same office with 
the Vocational Guidance Department looks after the 
placement of elementary school children. Funds for 
the support of this bureau are raised by private sub- 
scription. 

No comprehensive plan for securing information 
about vocations has been developed. 

A summary of the vocations in Minneapolis has just 
been completed. Many of the facts given in the report 
of this survey may be of value to workers who are seek- 
ing similar information about vocations in Boston. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



123 



VOCATIONAL QUIDANCE STATISTICS. 
Girls, May 1, 1915, to October 31, 1915, Inclusive. 



Total. 

1. Number reporting to vocational assistant: 

By mail 95 

In person at: 

Office 539 

Schools 567 

Evening centers 

Public libraries 

1,201 

2. Number parents visiting vocational assistant .... 33 

3. Number visits by vocational assistant to: 

Schools 52 

Parents 5 

Employers 23 

Miscellaneous 2 

— 82 

4. Number employers visiting office 11 

5. Placements: 





Part-time. 


Temporary. 


Permanent. 


Total. 


Brighton High 






4 
6 
5 
4 
18 


4 


Charlestown High 




3 

2 

1 

25 


9 


Dorchester High 

East Boston High 

Girls' High 

Hyde Park High 


3 

1 
3 


10 

6 

46 


Roxbury High 

South Boston High 

West Roxbury High. . . . 


4 
1 


5 
3 


14 

4 
1 
1 
1 


23 

8 
1 


Boston Clerical 




4 


5 


Girls' Latin 




1 


High School of Practical 




1 


1 


Arts. 
Normal 


2 




2 


Evening High Schools. . 


2 


4 


6 








Totals 


14 


4G 


62 


122 



124 



City Document No. 87. 



Boys, May I, 1915, to October 31, 1915, Inclusive. 



Total. 

1. Number reporting to vocational assistant: 

By mail , 49 

In person at: i ~ 

Office ■'^ . . 888 

Schools 257 

Evening centers 

Public libraries 

1,194 

2. Number parents visiting vocational assistant .... 18 

3. Number visits by vocational assistant to: 

Schools 49 

Parents 41 

Employers 12 

Miscellaneous 11 

— 113 

4. Number employers visiting office 5 

5. Placements: 



Part-time. 



Temporary. 



Permanent. Total 



Boston Industrial 

Brighton High 

Charlestown High 

Dorchester High 

East Boston High 

English High 

Hyde Park High 

High School of Com- 
merce. 
Mechanic Arts High . . . . 

Public Latin 

South Boston High 

West Roxbury High . . . . 
Evening High Schools . . 



20 

10 

13 

2 

3 



18 



18 

4 

6 

15 

19 

25 

8 

25 

11 

2 

10 

3 

5 



21 

5 
6 
35 
29 
40 
10 
28 

12 
2 

28 
3 
5 



Totals. 



71 



151 



224 



Vocational guidance in Boston is not expensive, a 
large part of the work being done voluntarily, or in con- 
nection with other duties. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



125 



Conclusions and Recommendations. 

The work in vocational guidance is probably as well 
organized and administered in Boston as in any of our 
American cities. The work is undoubtedly of much 
value and deserves further study. 

While the committee believes in the value of voca- 
tional guidance it regards the methods for obtaining 
information about vocations as capable of more complete 
organization. 

The committee believes that Boston will do well to 
expand its work in this field and to conduct an investi- 
gation of vocations in an accurate and comprehensive 
manner. 



AMOUNT OF STATE AID RECEIVED BY BOSTON. 



Period. 


Trade 

School 

for Girls. 


Boston 
Industrial 

School 
for Boys. 


Evening 
Trade 
School. 


Household 

Arts Class 
Continu- 
ation 
School. 


Evening 
Practical 

Arts 
Courses. 


Compulsory 
Continua- 
tion School. 


Oct. 1, 1908, to July 1, 1909.. . 






* $3,197 00 
8,182 76 
6,078 96 
6,760 38 








July 1, 1909, to Dec. 1, 1910. . . 
Dec 1,1910, to Nov 30,1911. 


$9,651 21 
11,895 95 
15,170 89 


















Dec. 1, 1911, to Nov. 30, 1912. . . 










Jan. 22, 1912, to Nov. 30, 1912, 




$1,270 88 
1,142 92 






Dec 1, 1912, to Nov 30, 1913 


17,952 96 




7,700 25 


$5,794 60 




May 1, 1911, to Nov. 30, 1913. . 


$22,764 87 
14,207 95 
13,220 92 




Dec. 1, 1913, to Nov. 30, 1914. . . 
Dec. l,1914,toAug. 31,1915t.. 


20,53i 14 
16,153 89 


6,435 78 
3,849 90 


1,043 75 
801 79 


5,907 68 
5,014 17 


$5,808 68 
17,281 52 


Totals 


$91,356 04 


$50,193 74 


$42,205 03 


$4,259 34 


$16,716 45 


$23,090 20 







* One fifth the net cost of maintenance; all other figures are one half the net cost of maintenance, 
t Reimbursement for this period will be received in 1916. 



126 City Document No. 87. 



CHAPTER VI.— VOCATIONAL NEEDS OF 
BOSTON CHILDREN. / 



According to the United States Census Reports for 
1910, there were in Boston at that time 1,470 male 
apprentices in all the manufacturing and mechanical 
industries and 74,599 others, excluding unskilled labor, 
that is, one apprentice to 57 skilled and semiskilled 
operatives. There were 236 female apprentices, chiefly 
dressmaking and millinery, as compared with 22,555 
other skilled and semiskilled employees in the manufac- 
turing and mechanical industries, or about one apprentice 
to 96 operatives. In the other occupational groups there 
is no record given to show that intentional, definite prep- 
aration of boys and girls is being made within the 
occupation itself to replace the natural loss from the 
present working force. 

The figures taken from the United States Census for 
use in this chapter are to be accepted not as absolutely 
accurate in every detail, but as the best obtainable and 
as sufficiently accurate for large groupings to admit of 
their use as a proper basis for scientific study. The 
Director of the Census himself recognizes the probability 
of many errors in the details of the large groups; but 
he also demonstrates that, for the group as a whole, the 
error is not considerable. This caution should be borne 
in mind in interpreting these data. 

Schools, colleges, universities and technical schools 
have for years past provided the education and train- 
ing necessary for professional vocations. Formerly the 
apprentice system in manufacturing and mechanical 
industries and similar probationary periods of training 
and experience in trade, commercial and service activi- 
ties, furnished the younger generation the knowledge 
and training required to accomplish successfully the 
work they would be required to do throughout their 
adult life; and this, at the same time, provided the 
supply necessary to recruit the ranks in these occupa- 
tions. With the almost total disappearance of the 
apprentice and similar systems for industrial and com- 
mercial training, this supply has practically disappeared 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 127 

and occupational preparation of our youth becomes a 
matter of serious import. Since the schools have gradu- 
ally accepted more and more largely the responsibility 
for the education of all the children, it is therefore the 
problem of the schools to provide the training which 
will enable these pupils to prepare for such vocational 
activities as are open to them. 

In order to determine the extent to which vocational 
training should be given in our schools and to avoid loss 
or waste of time, energy and money, it is necessary to 
know definitely the conditions to be provided for. In 
this particular study, therefore, it is necessary to ascer- 
tain what vocations are open to the boys and girls of 
Boston, and to what extent provision should be made 
to furnish the supply needed in these vocations, as 
shown by the quantitative demand. For the occupa- 
tions of adult life of the present day will, in all prob- 
ability, continue to be the chief occupations of adult 
life of the next generation. Some slight advance and 
some few changes will probably occur, or there will be 
no progress; but for all practical purposes the present 
occupations are those to be considered. Therefore, the 
vocational preparation of the boy and the girl of today 
must lead to the vocational occupation of the man and 
the woman of ten, twenty, thirty and more years hence. 
If it were reasonable to expect that the children in 
Boston would continue to reside in Boston all their 
lives, it would be right to train them for those occupa- 
tions only which are found in Boston. But in a study 
of 78 cities*, among which are 15 New England cities, it 
was shown that only 16 per cent of the 22,027 fathers 
then lived in the city where they were born. Since the 
pupil is primarily the concern of the school, it must fit 
him to live his life wherever he may be. It must be 
remembered, however, that the trend of migration is 
not from city to country; the reverse is true. If it can 
be shown, therefore, that the schools of Boston, in 
meeting the demands of the occupations found in the 
home city, make, at the same time, reasonable provision 
for occupational life in other cities, particularly those 
lying within the same section of the country, they will 
be giving to the pupil every advantage that can be 
rightfully expected. The first point in our problem, 

* Pamphlet Publications of the Division of Education, Russell Sage Foundation, 
No. e 135. Some Conditions Affecting Problems of Industrial Education in Seventy-eight 
American School Systems, Leonard P. Ayres, Ph. D. 



128 



City Document No. 87. 



then, is to get a broad comparison between the occupa- 
tions in Boston and those elsewhere. For this purpose 
Tables I and II have been compiled from the United 
States Census Reports of 1910. 



TABLE I. 

Total Number of Males 10 Years of Age and Over Engaged in Gainful Occupa= 
tions in Boston, and the Number Per 1,000 so Engaged in Boston, in 
Massachusetts, in the New England States, in all New England Cities 
in all Cities. 



Occupational Groups. 


Boston. 


Massa- 
chusetts. 


New 
England 
States. 


New 

England 

Cities. 


All 
Cities. 


Total 
Number. 


Number 

Per 

1,000. 


N umber 

Per 

1,000. 


Number 

Per 

1.000. 


Number 

Per 

1,000. 


Number 

Per 

1,000. 


Agriculture, forestry and animal 
husbandry. 


2,027 

183 
86,020 

31,301 
43,213 
7,069 
11,192 
20.150 
19,067 


9 

1 
391 

142 
196 
32 
50 
92 
87 


66 

2 
527 

92 
144 
24 
38 
51 
56 


137 

4 
504 

84 
124 
22 
34 
45 
46 


13 

1 
544 

98 
158 
25 
39 
58 
64 


10 
2 


Manufacturing and mechamc."il 
industnes. 


472 
115 


Trade 


175 




25 




43 


Domestic and personal service . . . 


72 
86 






Total in all occupations 


220,222 


1,000 


1,000 


1,000 


1,000 


1,000 



Total male population 10 years of age and over, 268,870. 



The above table shows that, of the 268,870 males ten 
years of age and over in the City of Boston, 220,222 
were engaged in gainful occupations. We shall have 
occasion later to refer to those not so occupied. A 
comparison of the columns showing the number of males 
per thousand employed in each occupational group in 
Boston is practically equal to or greater than the number 
similarly engaged in all New England cities and in all 
the cities of the country, excepting for manufacturing 
and mechanical industries. In this occupational group 
Boston falls below the New England cities by 153 and 
below the average for all cities in the country by 81. The 
occupational requirements of Boston would meet the 
occupational demands of either Massachusetts or the 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



129 



New England States in all the occupational groups 
except manufacturing and mechanical industries, extrac- 
tion of minerals and agriculture and animal husbandry 
pursuits. 

TABLE II. 

fotal Number of Females 10 Years of Age and Over Engaged in Gainful Occupa= 
tions in Boston, and the Number Per 1,000 so Engaged in Boston, in 
Massachusetts, in the New England States, in all New England Cities, 
in all Cities. 



Occupation Groups. 


Boston. 


Massa- 
chusetts. 


New 
England 
States. 


New- 
England 
Cities. 


All 

Cities. 




Total 
Number. 


Number 
Per 1,000. 


Number 
Per 1,000. 


Number 
Per 1,000. 


Number 
Per 1,000. 


Number 
Per 1,000. 


griculture, forestry and animal 
husbandry. 

xtraction of minerals 


133 

2 
27,260 

1,859 

10,066 

87 

8,742 
33,746 
14,431 


1 


6 


14 


1 


1 


lanufacturing and mechanical 
industries. 


283 

19 

105 

1 

91 
350 
150 


456 

11 

62 

1 

84 

272 

108 


453 

11 
57 
1 
90 
279 
95 


471 

12 

73 

1 

77 

252 

113 


356 

17 

94 

1 

84 

312 

135 








omestic and personal ser^dce . . . 
erical occupations 


Total in all occupations 


96,326 


1,000 


1,000 


1,000 


1,000 


1,000 



Total female population 10 years of age and over, 281,211. 



Table II above, compiled in the same way as Table I, 
presents the number of females ten years of age and over 
engaged in gainful occupations. Quite a different 
condition is first noticed in the number of females so 
employed as compared with the total female population 
ten years of age and over. Only 96,326 are employed out 
of a total of 281,211. Practically two-thirds of the 
women in Boston are not occupied as wage earners. 
This matter must be considered when we come to attempt 
the distribution of vocational training among the girls 
at school. Comparison between the number per thou- 
sand occupied in Boston with those similarly occupied 
in the cities and states specified shows results quite 
similar to those obtained for the boys. Having thus 
ascertained that by taking care of its own needs Boston 
will provide for the younger generation every reasonable 



130 



City Document No. 87. 



advantage for occupational life, the figures for Boston 
only will be considered throughout the rest of this 
chapter. 

To present a more definite view of occupational needs 
in Boston, the United States Census Reports for 1910 
have again been used to compile a table which shall show 
the number of males engaged in each specified occupation. 
The age limit, ten years and over, is that used by the 
Census Bureau and is therefore retained throughout 
this study. It appeared that a better result for school 
purposes would be obtained by disregarding the group 
and alphabetic arrangement used in the tables in the 
census reports, so as to bring together those trades for 
which the schools would necessarily give similar voca- 
tional training and, in some cases, by combining in one 
item the numbers for two or more similar occupations. 
For instance, all specified unskilled laborers, whether in 
agricultural, manufacturing or other groups, have been 
combined into one item; all woodworking occupations 
have been combined or placed in juxtaposition; a 
similar arrangement of those working in metals and 
machinery was made, and so on. Table III, given 
below, was constructed in accordance with the plan just 
outlined. It therefore lends itself as a tentative guide 
in determining the branches of vocational training that 
should be undertaken by the schools; also a guide to the 
number of individuals (within broadened limits) that 
should receive this training; and, in connection with 
certain other factors, it would aid in making a proper 
distribution of expenditures justified thereby. 



TABLE in. 

Total Number of Males 10 Years of Age and Over Engaged in Each 
Specified Gainful Occupation in Boston, and the Number Per 
1,000 so Engaged. 



Item. 



Occupations. 



Number 
Engaged. 



Number 

Per 
1,000. 



10 
11 
12 
13 



Farm, garden, flower and tree pursuits 

Apprentices (manufacturing and mechanical industries) . . . 

Manufacturers and officials 

Builders and building contractors 

Foremen and overseers (manufacturing and mechanical in- 
dustries) 

Carpenters 

Cabinetmakers and upholsterers 

Furniture, piano and organ factories 

Other woodworking pursuits. 

Brick and stone masons 

Painters 

Other building trades 

Plumbers, gaa and steam fitters 



1,170 
3,732 
1,974 

1,237 
6,684 
1,010 
1,350 
■1,147 
2,094 
4,585 
1,610 
2,353 



30 
5 
6 
5 

10 

21 
7 

11 



Repoet on Boston Public Schools. 

TABLE III. — Concluded. 



131 



Occupations. 



Number 
Engaged. 



Number 

Per 
1,000. 



Machinists 

Engineers (mechanical, stationary and locomotive) 

Blacksmiths 

Firemen (stationary and locomotive) 

Metal workers (other than iron and steel) 

Other mechanics and operatives in iron and steel 

Electricians and electrical engineers 

Chauffeurs 

Motormen 

Bakers and bakeries 

Other food and allied pursuits 

Tailors 

Clothing factories 

Textile mill operatives 

Shoe and leather industries 

Engravers, 1 ithographers and electrotypers 

Clay, glass and stone (including quarries and mines) 

Ci.i'armaking and tobacco factories 

Scattering (manufacturing and mechanical pursuits) 

Wholesale and retail dealers : . . . . 

Railroad and express proprietors, officials and agents 

Bankers and brokers 

Real estate and insurance officials and agents 

Foremen and inspectors (trade and transportation) 

Bookkeepers, cashiers and accountants 

Clerks (except clerks in stores) 

Stenographers and typewriters 

Telegraph and telephone operators 

Compositors and linotypers (printing) , 

Conductors, street and steam railways 

Post and express carriers and clerks 

Clerks and salesmen in stores., and commercial travelers . . 

Agents, canvassers and collectors 

Scattering (trade, transportation and public service) 

Public officials and inspectors 

Detectives, policemen, guards and watchmen , 

Hotel, boarding house and restaurant keepers 

Laundry owners and workers 

Servants and waiters 

Janitors, sextons and cleaners 

Barbers 

Bartenders 

Other domestic and personal service pursuits (except 
laborers) 

Unskilled laborers 

Actors and showmen 

Architects 

Artists, sculptors and teachers of art 

Authors, editors and reporters 

Chemists and assayers 

Civil and mining engineers and surveyors 

Clergymen « 

Dentists 

Designers, draughtsmen and inventors 

Lawyers, judges and justices 

Musicians and teachers of music 

Photographers 

Physicians and surgeons 

Teachers (school and college) 

Other professional and semiprofessional pursuits 

Grand total 



6,175 
3,050 
1,608 
2,043 
1,917 
4,730 
2,099 
1,285 
1,320 
1,398 
1,056 
4,512 
2,247 

674 
5,425 
1,777 

596 
1,297 
3,614 



76,069 


346 


11,855 


54 


1,390 


6 


1,110 


5 


2,285 


10 


880 


4 


3,666 


17 


10.880 


49 


610 


3 


474 


3 


2,424 


11 


1,588 


7 


941 


4 


19,495 


89 


1,320 


6 


3,329 


16 


62,247 


284 


936 


4 


2,785 


13 


3,721 


17 


1,405 


6 


1,208 


5 


7,994 


36 


2,322 


11 


2,561 


12 


1,028 


5 


1,759 


8 



18,277 
48,462 



489 


2 


300 


1 


471 


2 


539 


2 


210 


1 


559 


3 


647 


3 


516 


2 


784 


4 


1,341 


6 


1,340 


6 


303 


1 


1,620 


7 


964 


4 


1,109 


5 


11,192 


49 



220,222 



28 
14 

7 
10 

9 
21 
10 



6 
5 

20 

10 
3 

25 
8 
3 
6 

16 



83 
220 



1,000 



132 City DocrMEXT Xo. S7. 

Following the plan of construction outlined above, 
Items 2 to 32 of this table show that 346 out of every 
thousand males engaged in gainful occupations, skilled 
and semiskilled, in Boston, or 34.6 per cent, are employed 
in the manufacturing' and mechanical industries; 284 
per thousand, or 28.4 per cent. Items 33 to 47, are 
occupied in trade and commerce; 220 per thousand, or 
22 per cent. Item 57. in unskilled labor; 83 per thousand, 
or 8.3 per cent, Items 50 to 56 in domestic and personal 
service; 49 per thousand, or 4.9 per cent, Items 58 to 
72, in professional pursuits; 17 per thousand, or 1.7 
per cent. Items 48 and 49, in public service; and 1 per 
thousand, or .1 of 1 per cent. Item 1, as florists, gardeners 
or foresters. It must be remembered that neither the 
pupil nor the school can know positively the particular 
occupation for which he is best fitted or which he will 
pursue in adult hfe. and that he should have the privi- 
lege and opportunity of several kinds of vocational 
training, thereby necessitating the broadened limits 
mentioned above. But the above figures definitely 
signify that a minimum of 34.6 per cent of the boys, 
upon quitting school, should have been trained for the 
manufacturing and mechanical industries; a minimum 
of 30.1 per cent for trade, commerce and general busi- 
ness vocations, for the proper execution of public 
business is fundamentally similar to that of private 
business, thereby enabhng us to combine two of the 
items above; 8.3 per cent should have taken the courses 
leading to domestic and personal service; and 4.9 per 
cent those tending to professional vocations. We shall 
refer to these figures throughout this study as the 
vocational demands of Boston. 

'^Mien these rates per cent are properly weighted in 
proportion to the per capita cost in the several branches 
of vocational training, they become a reasonable guide 
for the proportionate distribution of the expenditures 
to be made for vocational education for the boys. 

Xine thousand six hundred and thirty-seven pupils 
left the Boston schools during the scholastic year 
1914-15. How many of them were boys and how 
many girls is not stated in the published statistics, 
except for the special schools. The numbers leaving 
each kind of school were received from the superintend- 
ent's office. The distribution of these numbers by sexes 
has been made upon the basis of the average of ratios 
between the sexes in the total registration, in the aver- 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



133 



age number belonging, and in the number belonging on 
June 30, as given in the annual statistics for 1914-15. 
The numbers thus obtained are presented in Table IV 
below: 



TABLE IV. 

Number of Pupils (Male and Female) Who Dropped Out of School 
(Discharged to Work and for Any Other Reason) During the 
Scholastic Year 1914=15, and their Approximate Distribution 
by Sexes. 



Total. 


Boys. 


■ Girls. 


From elementary schools 


5,244 

3,797 

17 

579 


2,747 

1,772 

3 

133 


2,497 


(From secondary schools 


2,025 


From normal schools 


14 


From special schools 


446 






Total 


9,637 


4,655 


4,982 



The above table shows that approximately 4,655 of 
those who left school last year were boys. By applying 
the rates of vocational demand in Boston to this number, 
it is indicated that about five of these boys may be 
expected to engage in floriculture or some other form 
of agriculture in the city; about 1,611 will be needed in 
the manufacturing and mechanical industries; about 
1,401 in commercial and business pursuits, including 
public service; about 386 in personal service of some 
kind; about 1,024 in labor requiring less skill; and 
about 228 in professional life. 

Considering the matter with reference to the definite 
vocations these boys will follow in adult life, the column 
in Table III giving the number per thousand for each 
specified vocation indicates that about 652 will be needed 
for work in metals and machinery, chiefly iron and steel; 
442 as salesmen; 307 bookkeepers, clerks and account- 
ants; 253 as wholesale and retail dealers; 214 carpen- 
ters and woodworkers; 168 as servants; 154 tailors 
and other workers in textiles; 116 as shoe and leather 
workers; 98 painters; 93 railroad, express, real estate 
and insurance officials, managers, agents and superin- 
tendents; 75 in building trades other than carpenters, 
painters and brick and stone masons; 60 will become 
detectives, policemen, guards and watchmen; 56 barbers; 
51 bakers and workers in other food products; 51 com- 
positors and linotypers n the printing and pubhshing 



134 City Document No. 87. 

trades; 51 conductors and other post, express or trans- 
portation operatives; 47 brick and stone masons; 28 
hotel, boarding and lodging house and restaurant 
keepers; 23 bankers and brokers, and 14 stenographers 
and typewriters. Of the 228 of these boys needed for 
professional Ufe, 33 will become physicians and surgeons; 
28 lawyers; 28 musicians and music teachers; 19 
designers, draughtsmen and inventors; 19 teachers in 
school and college; 14 clergymen; 14 civil and mining 
engineers and surveyors; 9 authors, editors and report- 
ers; 9 dentists; 9 chemists; 9 artists and sculptors; 9 
actors; 5 architects, and the remainder will be scattered 
among occupations not specified above. 

Statistics are not at hand to show the exact number 
of these boys who had vocational and pre-vocational 
courses before leaving school, but by taking the figures 
in Table IV in connection with certain data contained 
in the Superintendent's report and in the Annual 
Statistics for 1914-15 a fair approximation is obtain- 
able. 

Vocational, or rather pre-vocational, training in the 
elementary schools is limited to pupils twelve years of 
age and over admitted to the pre-vocational classes. 
During 1914-15, 259 boys were given pre-vocational 
diplomas. Assuming that all of these 259 boys left 
school to work, there remains 2,488 of the 2,747 leaving 
elementary schools (see Table IV) who had no voca- 
tional training in school. On page 49 of the Superin- 
tendent's report he gives the number of boys taking 
vocational courses in the secondary schools as follows: 
Industrial courses, 647, or 8.3 per cent; commercial and 
business courses, 3,640, or 46.6 per cent; the remaining 
3,522, or 45.1 per cent, were taking courses tending to 
professional vocations. Using these rates per cent to 
distribute the number of boys leaving secondary schools 
(1,772), the approximate numbers who had taken these 
several courses are obtained : industrial, 147 ; commmercial 
and business, 826; professional, 799. The three males 
leaving the Normal School necessarily had taken pro- 
fessional training and in the special schools the 133 boys 
leaving had more or less of industrial training. Tabu- 
lating these numbers for convenience we find the 
approximate number of boys leaving school during 
1914-15 who had received some form of vocational 
training or who had no vocational courses as set forth 
in Table V. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



135 



TABLE V. 





Vocational Courses 
Taken. 


c3 

a 
o 

:z; 






"3 


o 3 
feCQ 


o3 
C 
O 

'i 

2 


1 

o 


Normal School 






3 
799 


2,488' 


3 


Secondary schools 


147 
259 
133 


826 


1,772 


Elementary schools 


2,747 


Special schools 






133 












Total number of boys 


539 


826 


802 


2,488 


4.655 







The totals thus obtained show that 539 of the boys 
who went out from school to everyday life were more 
or less well prepared for industrial pursuits; 826 for 
commercial and business life; 802 for professional life, 
and that 2,488 had no specified vocational training. 
Comparing these figures with the vocational demands for 
these boys, as demonstrated in the first paragraph fol- 
lowing Table IV, the excess or deficiency of the supply 
required to fill the ranks of occupational life will appear. 
Table VI shows this comparison: 



TABLE VL 



Occupation Groups. 


Number 
Needed. 


Number 

Receiving Excess. 
Preparation. 


Deficiency. 


Agriculture 

Manufacturing and mechanical 
industries. 

Trade and commerce 

Domestic and personal service. . 


5 
1,611 

1,401 
386 

228 
1,024 






5 


539 

826 




1,072 

575 
386 


802 

2,488 


574 
1,464 




Unskilled labor 








Totals 


4,655 


4,655 


2,038 


2,038 



(This statement of excesses and deficiencies does not take into account 
other sources of supply such as immigration.) 



This table means that about three times as many 
boys as those who received industrial training before 



136 City Document No. 87. 

leaving school last year will be needed in the industries; 
for trade and commerce nearly twice as many will be 
needed as had taken commercial and trade work; more 
than three times as many studied for professional voca- 
tions as the demand appears to call for, and those who 
had no vocational training must secure training as best 
they can. The Continuation School-is of promise here. 
The totals also have meaning. They show that of the 
more than 4,500 boys who ended their school life last 
year over 2,000, or nearly one half, have not taken the 
kind of work in school that will enable them to fit to 
the best advantage into the occupational life of Boston. 
It is well to note that the Continuation School serves to 
meet this misfit condition in a greater or less degree, 
for during the year under consideration 2,592 boys 
received some vocational aid in this type of school which 
enabled them the better to meet the conditions which 
concern them at the present moment. But this in no 
wise can be deemed an equivalent to an adequate 
vocational training during the period of school life. 

The preceding figures presenting the conditions with 
reference to the boys constitute a fair and reasonable 
index of the types of vocational education which should 
be emphasized. This is seen when it is noted, as shown 
in Table I, that of the 268,870 males ten years of age 
and over in Boston, 220,222 were employed in gainful 
occupations, leaving 48,648 to be accounted for other- 
wise. Of this number about 30,000 were still in the 
public schools. The remaining 18,000 is not an excessive 
number when we consider the number of males in 
private schools, in institutional life, retired from occu- 
pation on account of age or other cause, those at leisure, 
and those without any occupation. 

When we come to study the data showing the voca- 
tions of the women in Boston the problem cannot be 
so definitely solved. Table II shows that there were 
only 96,326 females engaged in gainful occupations out 
of a total number of 281,211 who were ten years of age 
and over; that is, about two thirds of the women are 
not occupied in gainful employment. The number of 
girls over ten years of age still attending the public 
schools was about 29,000. This leaves more than 
155,000 to cover those at private schools, in institutions, 
at home without occupation, homekeeping and others. 
Statistics are not accessible to show the number of 
women whose occupation lies within domestic science 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



137 



and arts in keeping their own homes, but it is undoubt- 
edly true that the great majority of the 155,000 women 
not employed in gainful occupations are engaged in 
occupations of domestic and personal service. This 
must be accepted as a factor in working out the voca- 
tional education of the girls at school. That there are 
no data giving the number so occupied is what makes 
the solution of this part of the problem indefinite. It is 
thus seen that this study can consider the problem 
quantitatively only from the viewpoint of the number of 
females engaged in money-earning occupations. It 
remains for the school authorities to make such addi- 
tions thereto for those engaged in unpaid occupations 
as the best information obtainable by them shall justify. 

It has already been shown in discussing Table II 
that by giving the girls the vocational training called 
for by the gainful vocational needs for women in Boston, 
they will be prepared for the occupational life elsewhere 
as well. 

In the City of Boston the gainful occupations fol- 
lowed by females are set forth in Table VII below. 
This table was compiled similarly to that showing the 
specified occupations for males (Table III). The 
arrangement of items in the census reports was again 
disregarded and some items combined so as to make 
the table serve better the purposes of school authorities. 



TABLE VH. 

Total Number of Females 10 Years of Age and Over Engaged in 
Each Specified Gainful Occupation in Boston and the Number 
per 1,000 so Engaged. 



Item. 


Occupations. 


Number 
Engaged. 


Number 
per 
1,000. 


1 




236 
163 
.534 
C,5(i8 
1,840 
1,29.5 
4,717 
1,153 
1,843 
4,442 


2 


2 
3 

4 


M.inuf.acturers, officials, manaRcrs and superintendents. . . . 
Forewomen and overseers (manufacturing and trade) 


2 

6 

68 


5 




19 


6 


Tailoresses 


13 


7 
8 


Clothing factories, sewers and sewing machine operatives . . . 
Textile mills 


49 
12 


9 


Shoe factories and other leather industries 


19 


10 




46 




Wholesale and retail dealers 




11 


22,791 

1,333 

108 

5,636 


236 

14 


12 


Insurance and real estate 


1 


13 




59 









138 



City Document No. 87. 

TABLE \U.— Concluded. 



Item. 



Occupations. 



Number 
Engaged. 



Number 

per 
1,000. 



14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 



21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 
27 
28 
29 
30 



31 

32 
33 
34 
35 
36 
37 
38 
39 



Clerks 

Stenographers and typewriters 

Telegraph and telephone operators 

Compositors (printing) and linotypers 

Printing and bookbinding 

Saleswomen in stores and commercial travelers . . 
Agents, canvassers and collectors 

Hotel, boarding house and restaurant keepers. . . 

Housekeepers 

Bakeries and food factories 

Nurses (not trained) 

Servants 

Waiters 

Laundresses and laundry operatives 

Charwomen, cleaners and janitresses 

Hairdressers and manicurists 

Scattering (not including professional pursuits) . . 

Unskilled labor 

Actresses 

Artists, sculptors and teachers of art 

Authors, editors and reporters 

Musicians and teachers of music 

Physicians and surgeons 

Teachers (school and college) 

Trained nurses 

Other professional and semi-professional pursuits 

Totals 



4,505 
5,124 
1,726 

399 
1,087 
6,614 

125 



47 
53 
18 

4 
11 
69 

1 



26,657 


277 


3,332 


35 


2,278 


24 


2,346 


24 


1,761 


18 


17,071 


177 


3,239 


34 


4,222 


44 


1,115 


12 


548 


6 


835 


9 


36,747 


383 


1,556 


16 


330 


3 


310 


3 


147 


2 


1,274 


13 


258 


3 


3,492 


36 


1,669 


17 


1,095 


11 


8,575 


88 



96,326 



1,000 



Items 1 to 10 of this table show that 236 females per 
thousand engaged in gainful occupations, or 23.6 
per cent, are occupied in manufacturing and mechanical 
industries; Items 11 to 20, that 277 per thousand, or 
27.7 per cent, are engaged in trade and commerce; Items 
21 to 30, that 383 per thousand, or 38.3 per cent, are 
occupied in domestic and personal service; Items 32 
to 39, that 88 per thousand, or 8.8 per cent, follow 
professional vocations; Item 31, that 16 per thousand, 
or 1.6 per cent, perform some form of unskilled labor. 
Unlike the rates deduced for the boys, these rates per 
cent are not a final index of the demands of the voca- 
tions in Boston for women in adult life. The rates 
for domestic and personal service and, to a less degree 
for manufacturing and mechanical industries, should 
be materially increased because of housekeeping, dress- 
making and sewing and other activities of the home. 
This would result naturally in ^ower rates per cent for 
the other vocational groups. But these figures do 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 139 

show the relative proportion of women in the several 
groups of gainful occupations, and because so many are 
so engaged the problem must be worked out for them at 
least as well as for the occupations concerned. 

Referring to Table IV, it is seen that of the 9,637 
pupils leaving school during 1914-15 approximately 
4,982 were girls, about 2,497 of them leaving from the 
elementary schools, 2,025 from secondary schools, 14 
from the Normal School and 446 from special schools. 
Applying the rates per cent representing the demands 
of the gainful occupations for these 4,982 girls who 
left school, it is indicated that about 1,176 of them may 
find employment in the manufacturing and mechanical 
industries, about 1,380 in trade and commercial pur- 
suits, about 1,908 in domestic and personal service 
as wage earners, about 438 in professional activities 
and about 80 in some form. of unskilled labor. 

The column in Table VII showing the number per 
thousand in each gainful occupation indicates the more 
detailed distribution of these girls among these several 
occupations. It means that about 882 will be needed 
as servants; 652 dressmakers, seamstresses and clothing 
makers; 538 as bookkeepers, cashiers and clerks; 349 
as saleswomen and commercial travelers; 264 stenog- 
raphers and typewriters; 229 as factory operatives 
not elsewhere specified; 219 as laundresses and laundry 
operatives; 179 teachers in school and college; 174 
as hotel, boarding and lodging house keepers; 169 as 
waitresses; 120 as housekeepers; 120 in bakeries and 
other food products; 100 milliners and millinery 
dealers; 95 in shoe and leather industries; 90 telegraph 
and telephone operators; 90 nurses, not trained; 85 
trained nurses; 75 bookbinders and printers; 70 whole- 
sale and retail dealers; 65 musicians and music teachers; 
60 in textile mills; 60 janitresses, charwomen and 
cleaners; 15 physicians and surgeons; 15 artists and 
• sculptors; 15 actresses, and 10 authors, editors and 
reporters. 

In order to discover the numbers of these pupils who 
had undertaken the several courses or kinds of vocational 
training leading to the corresponding groups of voca- 
tions, it was necessary to approximate the distribution 
for those leaving the secondary schools. The numbers 
given for those leaving the normal and the special 
schools were ascertained directly from statistics fur- 
nished. The number for the elementary schools is 



140 



City Document No. 87. 



the number of girls receiving pre-vocational diplomas. 
The distribution for the secondary schools was obtained 
by prorating the total number leaving on the basis of 
the numbers taking the corresponding courses at the 
present time. The results showing the approximate 
number of girls who had taken specified vocational 
courses before leaving school during. 1914-15 and those 
who had taken no such course are set forth in the fol- 



lowing 



table: 



TABLE 


VIII. 












Kind 


OF Vocational 
Taken. 


Work 


C3 

a 
.o 

o S 
> ° 






[3 

•a 
a 


"So 


Q 


a 
.2 

1 

g 
CM 


OS 

o 


Normal School 








14 
566 


"404 
2,486 


14 


Secondary schools 


i35 

11 

5 


860 


60 


2,025 
2,497 


Special schools 


441 





446 










Totals 


151 


1,301 


60 


580 


2,890 


4,982 



By comparing these results with the numbers deduced 
above as the indicated need for women in gainful occu- 
pations, the excess and the deficiency will be shown. 
Table IX makes this comparison. 



TABLE IX. 



Occupation Groups. 


Number 
Needed. 


Number 

Taking 

Training. 


Excess. 


Deficiency. 


Manufacturing and mechanical 

industries. 
Trade and commerce 


1,176 

1,380 

1,908 

438 

80 


151 

1,301 

60 

580 

2,890 


'""142" 

2,810 


1,025 
79 


Domestic and personal service. . . 
Profc'^ional service 


1,848 


Unskilled labor 








Totals 


4,982 


4,982 


2,952 


2,952 







(This statement of excesses and deficiencies does not take into account 
other sources of supply such as immigration.) 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 141 

This table is illuminating, even though it is not so 
definitely positive as the corresponding table for the 
boys. We find that there is a deficiency in the supply 
of girls for the manufacturing and mechanical industries. 
The numbers that should be prepared for trade and 
commerce are nearly sufficient to meet the demands. 
The number trained for occupation in domestic and 
personal service is almost negligible in comparison with 
the excessively large number needed. The number 
receiving training towards professional vocations is only 
about one fourth greater than the demand. The Con- 
tinuation School during the year 1914-15 gave help for 
immediate needs to 1,455 girls; besides this, it is well 
known that a large number received, in connection with 
their regular work in the elementary schools, very 
valuable training in the rudiments of domestic science 
and arts. These two points materially lessen the appar- 
ently large number of pupils who appear from the 
numbers above likely to be misfits in the occupational 
life of their home city. It is to be regretted that the 
United States Census Bureau has not compiled the 
data for females showing how many of them are engaged 
in nongainful occupations. Such figures would be of 
great value and service to school authorities. 

In the foregoing part of this chapter the study has been 
based upon the number of pupils who left school, because 
this is the true and final basis for measuring the product 
of the school. But it will also be of service to know the 
extent and distribution of the vocational work now in 
process in the schools; that is, how many pupils are now 
taking vocational courses and how their proportionate 
distribution compares with the rates per cent representing 
the demand of the corresponding occupational group. 

Data were received from the Superintendent's office 
showing the number of pupils in each specified vocational 
course in the several kinds of schools on December 1, 
1915. In compiling the numbers for the tables below a 
pupil taking more than one course is counted in each 
course taken, thus producing more or less of duplication. 
This does not invalidate the comparison between the 
proportion of pupils in the several kinds of vocational 
work and the rates of demand of the related occupational 
groups. 



142 



City Document No. 87. 



TABLE X. 

Number of Boys in Boston Public Schools December 1, 1915, Registered in 
Courses Tending Directly or Indirectly to the Occupational Groups Speci- 
fied, and the Rate Per Cent of their Distribution Compared with the Rate 
Per Cent of Demand. 



Occupational Groups. 


Secondary 
Schools. 


Elementary 

Schools 

(Pre- 

vocational). 


Special 
Schools. 


Continua- 
tion 
Schools. 


Total, 

all 

Schools. 


Rate 
Per 

Cent of 
Distri- 
bution. 


Rate 
Per Cent 

of 
Demand. 


Manufacturing and mechan- 
ical industries. 

Trade and commerce 


1,461 

3,540 
3,720 


623 
196 


159 
37 


*658 
627 


2,901 

4,400 
3,720 


26.3 

39.9 
33.8 


34.6 

30.1 
4 9 














8,721 


819 


196 


1,285 


11,021 













* Not including 302 boys taking course for general improvement. 



The above table shows that there were, on December 
1, 1915, 11,021 boys in vocational courses tending to the 
three occupational groups specified; that 26.3 per cent 
of them were working in industrial courses; 39.9 per cent 
of them in commercial and trade courses, and 33.8 per 
cent in courses tending to professional service. In 
comparing these rates per cent with the corresponding 
rates of demand, it must be constantly borne in mind 
that the two sets of rates refer to entirely different bases 
and that the comparison cannot, therefore, be absolute 
but must be purely relative. The table is intended to 
show simply the proportionate distribution of vocational 
work in the schools as compared with the proportionate 
demand or opportunity for such work in the occupations. 
No final conclusions should be drawn from this table 
nor from Table XI below, because the pupils are still 
at school, their work is only in process, and changes from 
one course to another are likely to occur. 

The table below for the girls is similar to Table X for 
the boys, and the suggestions made with regard to the 
interpretation of the boys' table apply with equal force 
here. The table shows that on December 1, 1915, 
11,447 girls were registered in vocational courses tending 
to the four occupational groups specified; that 7.4 per 
cent of them were in courses related to the manufacturing 
and mechanical industries; 40.7 per cent in courses 
making for trade and commerce; 16.2 per cent in domes- 
tic arts and science courses, and 35.7 per cent in courses 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



143 



tending to professional service. The last column gives 
the corresponding rates per cent of demand in the gainful 
occupations. 

The one unmistakable point shown by Tables X and 
XI is the need for an increased number of pupils in 
courses leading to manufacturing and mechanical 
industries. 



TABLE XI. 

Number of Girls in Boston Public Schools December 1, 1915, Registered in 
Courses Tending Directly or Indirectly to the Occupational Groups Speci= 
fied, and the Rate Per Cent of their Distribution Compared with the Rate 
Per Cent of Demand. 



OccuPATioNAi. Groups. 


Secondary 
Schools. 


Elementary 
Schools. 


Special 
Schools. 


Continua- 
tion 
Schools. 


Total, 

all 
Schools. 


Rate 
Per 
Cent 9f 
Distri- 
bution. 


Rate Per 
Cent of 
Demand. 








539 


*308 

329 
193 


847 

4,663 
1,849 

4,088 


7.4 

40.7 
16.2 

35.7 


23.6 


ical industries. 


4,334 
474 

4,088 




27 7 


Domestic and personal 
service. 


1,155 


27 


38.3 
8 8 














8,896 


1,155 


566 


930 


11,447 













* Not including 102 girls taking course for general improvement. 

In conclusion, it may be summarized from the fore- 
going that the schools of Boston are already providing 
a large number of boys and girls with vocational edu- 
cation that will enable them to enter the occupations 
found in their own city and in other cities. It is evi- 
dent that there should be a large increase in the num- 
bers to receive training for the manufacturing and 
mechanical industries. In this connection probably the 
most important point is that many pupils leave the 
elementary schools without any vocational training. 
This indicates that there should be an increase in pre- 
vocational training. There is an undoubted deficiency in 
the number adequatelypreparedf or domestic and personal 
service. The importance of proper preparation in this, 
branch is as great for the* home as it is for many paid 
services. There is an excess in the number of boys and 
girls taking vocational work leading to professional life; 
there is every indication that a large portion of them 
will not find need or opening for their services. 



144 City Document No. 87. 



CHAPTER VII.— BOSTON'S EXPENDITURES FOR 
SCHOOL PURPOSES COMPARED WITH THE 
EXPENDITURES OF OTHER LARGE 
AMERICAN CITIES. ~ 



In seeking to ascertain whether a city's expenditure 
for school purposes is sufficient, insufficient, or exces- 
sive, information regarding the amounts spent in other 
cities is of value. This does not mean that the average 
disbursement of a number of cities, or the disbursement 
of any one city in the group, is the ideal expenditure. 
Figures for a group of cities represent, not the goal 
toward which communities are working, but the pre- 
vailing practice of cities — a compromise between what 
is thought to be desirable and what is found to be 
possible. In the absence of a more definite standard a 
record of the prevailing practice is useful as a scale by 
which to measure performance. 

Cities Compared. 

In the following pages Boston's expenditures for school 
purposes will be compared with the expenditures of 
other large American cities. Comparative figures will 
be given for total expenditures, for outlay for permanent 
improvements, for total expenditures for operation and 
maintenance, and for expenditures for the itemized pur- 
poses of operation and maintenance. As the educa- 
tional problems of large cities differ materially from the 
problems of smaller cities, the study will deal with the 
cities for which data are available which resemble 
Boston most closely in size. Most of the comparisons 
made will include either 21 or 22 cities. 

Sources of Statistics. 

The greater part of the data used in the comparative 
study of expenditures are from the annual report of the 
United States Commissioner of Education. The statis- 
tics of these reports are compiled from schedules dis- 
tributed from the Bureau of Education, which are filled 
out by local school authorities. As the accounting 
systems of the different cities are not on a uniform 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 145 

basis, the comparability of some of the figures presented 
may have been affected, in minor respects, by variations 
in classification. 

It is believed that possible errors arising from this 
source have been reduced to a minimum. The figures 
for Boston presented in the Commissioner's report have 
been compared with statistics compiled by the Business 
Agent of the Boston School Committee; in the course of 
the Cleveland School Survey the figures for Cleveland 
have been verified from the books of the clerk of the 
local Board of Education, and a study of the schedules 
on file in the office of the Commissioner of Education 
at Washington has made it possible to correct dis- 
crepancies of classification affecting reports for other 
cities. It is believed that the sources of error have 
been further reduced by excluding from the com- 
parisons figures appearing under the head ''miscellaneous 
items," which are presumably the ones most affected by 
differences in methods of accounting. The comparisons 
have been confined, in other words, to expenditures for 
operation and maintenance and outlays for improve- 
ments. 

The methods of computation employed in this study 
and possible inaccuracies in results due to differences in 
accounting and to other causes are discussed at length 
in the Appendix. It seems well to emphasize at this 
point the fact that any inaccuracies of data or defects in 
method, mentioned in the text or in the appendix, are 
not of a sort seriously to affect the reh ability or signifi- 
cance of the comparisons. In basing conclusions upon 
the figures presented, allowance will be made for limita- 
tions of data and of method. 

Statistical accuracy is relative rather than absolute. 
Minor inaccuracies are met with, not only in com- 
parative figures of the sort used in the present study, 
but in most social and fiscal statistics. The presence 
of such inaccuracies does not justify the entire rejection 
of statistical data. 

Population figures, which are the kind of statistics 
with which the general public is most familiar, are seldom 
wholly accurate. The population of Boston as reported 
by the census enumerators in 1910 may have varied 
by several hundreds or even thousands of persons from 
the actual population of the city on the census day; 
the same is true of the census figure for 1900. But, 
while no one acquainted with the methods of census 



146 City Document No. 87. 

taking would claim that the population returns for the 
city at either census are strictly and minutely accurate, 
it will- hardly be questioned that the statistics prove that 
Boston was materially larger in 1910 than in 1900. 

In consideiing relative disbursements for the schools 
the same principle applies. If Boston's expenditure per 
child in average daily attendance for an important 
educational piu-pose, such as teachers' salaries, were found 
to differ by only a few cents from the corresponding 
figure for some other city, it would seem possible that 
the difference was due to variations in classification or 
to inaccuracies in reporting; but, if the figure for Boston 
were found to be half as high again as that for the other 
city, there could be, in the absence of definite evidence 
to the contrary, little doubt that the difference between 
the figures represented a real difference in conditions. 
And, if the expenditures for one city were found to range, 
for a considerable number of items, well above the 
average for the group of cities, or well below, it would 
be difficult to escape the conclusion that the returns 
revealed, for the city considered, conditions that were 
exceptional in a significant waj'. 

Differences in the methods of classifying accounts 
employed in different cities will not affect the figures 
representing total expenditures. It seems probable, 
moreover, that, where one city includes under a given 
head of the Commissioner's schedule expenditures which 
should not have been included, another city, or other 
cities, will include too little under this head. In other 
words, errors in classification made by the different 
cities will tend to balance each other, and it follows that 
the margin of error will be less when Boston's expendi- 
tures for any given item are compared with an average 
for the group of cities than when the Boston figures 
are compared with figures for any one city. 

Bases of Comparisons. 

As total expenditure for school purposes is affected by 
wealth, population, the number of children of school age, 
the number of children attending public school and 
other factors, a direct comparison of expenditures in the 
different cities would be misleading. It is necessary, if 
comparisons are to yield valid and significant results, 
to reduce expenditures to some comparable unit. The 
units of comparison emploj^ed in the present study 
correspond to the methods by which the problem of 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



147 



measuring the adequacy of school expenditures has 
"been approached. One of these methods of approach is 
concerned with the emphasis that is being placed on the 
work of the schools as compared with other municipal 
activities; another with the relation of expenditures to 
resources, and a third with the relation of expenditures 
to the size of the city's educational problem. 

Proportion of Municipal Expenditure Devoted 

TO Schools. 

Does Boston, as compared with other cities of similar 
size, devote a large or a small proportion of its total 
governmental expenditure to the maintenance, operation 
and improvement of its public schools? Table 1 shows, 
for 22 cities, total governmental cost expenditures, 
expenditures for public schools and the percentage 
relationship of expenditure for schools to total expen- 
diture. 

TABLE I. 

Proportion of Total Governmental Cost Payments Devoted to 
School Purposes in Boston and in 21 Other Cities. 1913.^ 



City. 



All 
Purposes. 



Governmental Cost 
Payments for School 
purposes.2 



Amount. 



As a Per Cent 
of Payments 

For AU 
Purposes. 



Rank in Per 
Cent of Gov- 
ernmental Cost 
Payments 
Devoted 
to School 
Purposes. 



Baltimore. 
Boston. . . . 
Buffalo.... 
Chicago. . . 
Cincinnati. 



Cleveland. . . 

Detroit 

Indianapolis. 
Jersey City. . 
Kansas City. 

Los Angeles. 
Milwaukee. . 
Minneapolis . 
Newark 



New Orleans. 
Philadelphia . 
Pittsburgh. . . 
Portland 



San Francisco. 

Seattle 

St. Louis 

Washington. . . 



$18,090,899 
32,553,175 
15,522,286 
67,801,957 
14,929,267 

18,554,874 

16,542,571 

5,425,024 

6,423,276 

11,363,638 

26,202,673 
10,373,414 
11,172,169 
13,955,856 

8,878,170 
43,311,948 
22,836,171 
12,469,020 

27,557,301 
13,234,476 
21,516,430 
12,339,165 



$2,544,186 
5,877,619 
2,774,296 

13,212,259 
2,720,466 

3,987,673 
3,250,905 
1,528,871 
2,012,220 
2,388,674 

4,853,343 
2,284,101 
3,290,317 
3,395,909 

1,526,592 
7,876,271 
4,407,776 
2,404,120 

2,535,578 
2,115,020 
4,283,987 
2,646,546 



14.1 
18.1 
17.9 
19.5 
18.2 

21.5 
19.7 
28.2 
31.3 
21.0 

18.5 
22.0 
29.5 
24.3 

17.2 
18.2 
19.3 
19.3 

9.2 
16.0 
19.9 
21.4 



21 
17 
18 
11 
15 

6 

10 

3 

1 



14 
5 
2 
4 

19 
16 
12 
13 

22 

20 

9 

7 



Average . 



20.2 



» United States Bureau of the Census, Financial Statistics of Cities, 1913, pages 41-42. 
* Includes expenses and outlays. 



148 



City Document No. 87. 



The amounts reported in Table 1 include outlays for 
permanent improvements as well as disbursements for- 
operation and maintenance. The data upon which the 
table is based are derived, not from the reports of the 
Commissioner of Education, as are the statistics used 
in compiling most of the tables of this study, but from 
the report of the Bureau of the Census entitled "Finan- 
cial Statistics of Cities." The distinction is an important 
one. As has been seen, the Commissioner of Education 
secures information relative to city expenditures by 



Jersey City 

Minneapolis 

Indianapolis 

Newark 

Milwaukee 

Cleveland 

Washington 

Kansas City 

St. Louis 

Detroit 

Chicago 

Pittsburgh 

Portland 

Los Angeles 

Cincinnati 

Philadelphia 

BOSTON 

Buffalo 

New Orleans 

Seattle 

Bal t irr,ore 

San Francisco 




40 



6o 



80 



100 



Governmental coat payments for 



School purposes 



H All other purposes 



Per cent 

31.3 

29.5 
28.2 

24.3 
22.0 
21.5 
21.4 
21.0 
19.9 
19.7 
19.5 
19.3 

18. 5 
18.2 
18.2 
18.1 

n.9 
17.2 
16.0 
14.1 
9.2 



Diagram 1. Proportion of Total Governmental Cost Payments Devoted to School 
Purposes in Boston and in 21 Other Cities. 



means of schedule inquiries, and the possible inaccu- 
racies discussed in the text and in the appendix are the 
result of this method of investigation. The Bureau of 
the Census does not rely, in gathering information 
relative to municipal expenditures, upon schedules sent 
out by mail, but sends to each city an expert special 
agent who draws off from the municipal accounts such 
information as he may need. If, in a given city, the 
classification of accounts does not correspond exactly 
to the classification of the census schedule, the special 
agent makes the necessary adjustment. As all the 
agents employ the same methods and are guided by the 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 149 

same instruction, the result of their inquiry is a strictly 
comparable set of figures. The figures of Table 1 are 
for 1913, the most recent year for which data are 
available. 

It appears from the table that in Boston the propor- 
tion of governmental expenditures devoted to the schools 
is materially smaller than in the average city. Among 
the 22 cities Boston ranks seventeenth. The figure for 
Boston is 18.1 per cent, while the average for the group 
of cities is 20.2 per cent. If a conclusion may be based 
upon the prevailing practice, the Boston schools are 
getting somewhat less than their due share of the 
money which the city is spending for social and govern- 
mental purposes. 

Expenditure Per Inhabitant. 

Expenditures for school purposes are affected, in a 
general way, by the size of the city. It is not to be 
expected that a city of less than 300,000 inhabitants, 
such as Indianapolis, will spend as much upon its 
schools as a city of over 600,000 inhabitants, such as 
Cleveland. The simplest way of allowing for differences 
in size is to divide expenditures for school purposes by 
the number of inhabitants, thus obtaining expenditure 
per inhabitant. The results of such a computation 
appear in Table 2. 

Comparisons based upon expenditure per inhabitant 
have serious limitations of usefulness. It may, with 
propriety, be objected that a city's population does not 
determine either what it can spend for school purposes 
or what it should spend. Population does not necessarily 
represent ability to contribute to the support of the 
public schools. Neither is the number of children to be 
educated indicated by the population returns, for the 
number of children per 1,000 persons in the total popu- 
lation may be much smaller in some cities than in 
others. Population is not, however, to be ignored in 
any discussion of relative expenditures; it constitutes 
one of a number of significant factors which affect the 
comparisons. 



150 



City Document No. 87. 



TABLE 2. 

Expenditure Per Inhabitant for Operation and Maintenance of 
Schools in Boston and in 20 Other Cities. 1914. 



ClTT. 



Estimated 

Population 

in 19141. 



Expenditure for 
Op) ration and 
Maintenance. 



Total.' 



Per 
Inhabitant. 



Rank in 
Expenditure 

Per 
Inhabitant. 



Baltimore . 
Boston. . . . 
Buffalo.... 
Chicago . . . 
Cleveland . 



Detroit 

Indianapolis . 
Jersey City . . 
Kansas City. 
Los Angeles. . 

Milwaukee. . 
Minneapolis. 

Newark 

New Orleans. 
Philadelphia . 



Pittsburgh.... 

Portland 

San Francisco. 



Seattle 

St. Louis. . . . 
Washington . 



579,590 
733,802 
454,112 
2,393,325 
639,431 

537,650 
259,413 
293.921 
281,911 
438,914 

417,054 
343,466 
389,106 
361,221 
1,657,810 

564,878 
260,601 
448,502 

313,029 
734,667 
353,378 



$1,954,670 
5,516,762 
2,449,533 

12,731,954 
3,569,504 

2,533,488 
1,409,504 
1,421,147 
1,761,389 
3,706,519 

1,794,796 
2,147,856 
2,699,239 
1,097,552 
7,081.830 

3.602.303 
1,424,938 
1,879,187 

1,750.998 
4,084,693 
2,391,976 



$3 37 
7 52 
5 39 
5 32 
5 58 



6 38 
5 47 

4 19 

5 59 

5 56 

6 77 



20 

2 

13 

14 

9 

16 
12 
15 



17 
6 
3 

21 

IS 



Average . 



$5 51 



> Estimates of Population, United States Bureau of the Census. 

- Annual report of the United States Commissioner of Education for 1914, Volume 
II.. qhapter II., Table 12. 



The figures of Table 2 are from the reports of the 
Commissioner of Education. Statistics are presented for 
the school year 1913-14, the most recent year for which 
data are available for all the cities. All consideration of 
expenditure for new buildings and other permanent 
improvements in the school plant has been omitted 
from this table; the statistics presented relate solely 
to expenditure for the operation and maintenance of 
the schools. 

It will be seen that Boston's expenditure for school 
purposes per inhabitant exceeds by a substantial margin 
that of the average city. The figure for Boston is S7.52, 
while the average for the group of cities is but S5.51. 
Of the 21 cities for which data are available, onlj- one, 
Los Angeles, is reported to have spent more per inhab- 
itant than Boston for the operation and maintenance of 
its schools. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



151 






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152 



City Document No. 87. 



Expenditure Per $1,000 of Taxable Wealth. 

Perhaps the most satisfactory measure of a city's 
abiUty to spend money for school purposes is supphed 
by the amount of the taxable wealth of the community. 
The cities compared vary widely as to wealth. Is the 
ratio of school expenditure to wealth lower or higher in 
Boston than in other communities? Table 3 shows 
expenditure per $1,000 of taxable wealth for the group 
of cities. In this table, as in Table 2, the comparison is 
confined to expenditure for the operation and mainte- 
nance of schools, and the data are for 1913-14. 



TABLE 3. 

Expenditure Per $1,000 of Wealth for Operation and Maintenance 
of Schools in Boston and in 20 Other Cities. 1914. 



City. 



Baltimore. 
Boston. . . . 
Buffalo.... 
Chicago. . . 
Cleveland. 



Detroit 

Indianapolis. 
Jersey City . . 
Kansas City . 
Los Angeles . . 

Milwaukee . . . 
Minneapolis . , 

Newark 

New Orleans. 
Philadelphia. 



Pittsburgh .... 

Portland 

San Francisco. 



Seattle. . . . . 
St. Louis. . . 
Washington. 



Estimated 

True Value 

of all 

Property 

Assessed.! 



$723,800,340 
1,489,608,820 

494,200,459 
3,761,800,684 

756,831,185 

598,634,198 
363,413,650 
257,644,605 
371,191,014 
836,604,260 

511,720,797 
639,258,841 
383,864,182 
314,086,036 
1,556,323,614 

789,035,200 

481,057,404 

1,247,391,284 

473,174,995 

1,125,308,749 

538,389,607 



Expense and Outlay 
FOB School Purposes. 



Total.2 



Per $1,000 

of Property 

Assessed. 



$1,954,670 
5,516,762 
2,449,533 

12,731,954 
3,569,504 

2,553,488 
1,409,504 
1,421,147 
1,761,389 
3,706,519 

1,794,796 
2,147,8.56 
2,699,239 
1,097,552 
7,081,830 

3,602,303 
1,424,938 
1,879,187 

1,750,998 
4,084,693 
2,391,976 



$2 70 
3 70 



3 70 

3 63 

4 44 



Rank in 

Expenditure 

Per $1,000 of 

Property 

Assessed. 



20 
12 

3 
17 

5 

10 

11 

2 

4 

9 

15 
18 

1 
16 

7 

6 
19 
21 

13 

14 



Average . 



$4 05 



1 United States Bureau of the Census, "Financial Statistics of Cities, 1913." The true 
value of property assessed has been estimated from the actual assessed value and the 
reported percentage relationship of the assessed value to the true value. 

2 Annual report of the United States Commissioner of Education for 1914, Volume II., 
chapter II., Table 12. 

In expenditure per unit of wealth, Boston ranks 
twelfth among the 21 cities for which information is 
available. Boston's expenditure for operation and main- 
tenance per $1,000 of taxable property is $3.70, while 
the average for the group of cities is $4.05. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



153 



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fe:«T)Pawo^a-&^jpii-iwwws^oSP<mw 







154 City Document No. 87. 



Expenditure Per Pupil in Average Daily 
Attendance. 

Whether or not a city's expenditure for school pur- 
poses is adequate cannot be determined solely from a 
consideration of the city's proportional expenditure 
for schools or of the relation of expenditure to wealth 
or population. Expenditure must be related to the size 
of the educational problem. The size of the problem 
may be measured in two ways: first, by the number of 
children to whom the city owes an education, and 
second, by the number of children actually attending 
school. The city owes an education to all children of 
school age whose education is not being supplied by 
private agencies. Unfortunately, complete and accurate 
data as to the number of these children are not available, 
owing to the insufficiency of most school censuses. In 
the absence of trustworthy figures relative to the number 
of children who should be in school, the size of the school 
problem may best be represented by the number of chil- 
dren in average daily attendance. This measure is not 
affected by variations in the enforcement of compulsory 
attendance laws or in methods of compiling statistics of 
enrollment. 

But expenditure for each pupil in average daily attend- 
ance is not significant solely, nor even primarily, as a 
substitute for expenditure for each child who should be 
in school. This ratio is qualified to stand upon its 
merits; it probably constitutes the best single measure 
of the sufficiency of the amount spent for school purposes. 
Expenditure per child in average daily attendance 
indicates the provision of educational tools and supplies 
with which the school staff is asked to do a given amount 
of work. This ratio states expenditures in terms of 
what is actually being done. It is, moreover, a relative 
measure which may be applied uniformly to all cities. 
In Tables 2 and 3 of this report comparisons are confined 
to expenditure for the operation and maintenance of 
the schools. Table 4 shows expenditure per pupil in 
average attendance for operation and maintenance 
and also average annual outlay per pupil for new build- 
ings and other permanent improvements in the school 
plant. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



155 



TABLE 4. 

Expenditure for Operation and Maintenance of Schools and Outlay 
for Improvement of School Plant Per Child in Average Daily 
Attendance in Boston and in 20 Other Cities.^ 





Expenditure Per Child 
IN Average Daily 
Attendance for 


Rank in Expenditure 
Per Child in Average 
Daily Attendance for 


CiTT. 


Operation 

and 

Maintenance, 

1913-14. 


Average 
Annual Out- 
lay for New 
Buildings, 
Grounds, 
New 
Equipment. 


Operation 

and 

Maintenance . 


Outlay. 


Baltimore 


$32 54 

56 73 

51 32 
47 48 
46 38 

44 66 
46 59 
43 17 

52 96 
64 78 

38 51 
52 70 

50 25 
33 07 
40 74 

58 97 
55 38 

45 08 

61 18 
52 40 

51 34 


$8 93 

11 392 
27 78 3 
19 293 
13 81 

17 73 

9 98 3 
16 63 2 
21 57 
16 492 

7 60 

18 84 

19 19 
4 93 

8 64 

12 132 

36 72 
34 89 

18 54 

10 86 2 

11 31 3 


21 
4 
10 
12 
14 

16 

13 

17 

6 

1 

19 
7 
11 
20 
18 

3 

5 

15 

2 
8 
9 


18 


Boston 


14 


Buffalo 


3 


Chicago 


5 


Cleveland 


12 


Detroit 


9 


Indianapolis 


17 


Jersey City 


10 


Kansas City 


4 


Los Angeles 


11 


Milwaukee 


20 


Minneapolis 


7 


Newark 


6 


New Orleans 


21 


Philadelphia 


19 


Pittsburgh 


13 


Portland 


1 


San Francisco 


2 


Seattle 


8 


St. Louis 


16 


Washington 


15 






Average of per capitas 
(simple) 


$48 87 


$16 54 













1 Based on figures presented in the annual reports of United States Commissioner of 
Education for 1911, 1912, 1913 and 1914. 

2 Average for three years for which data are available. 
' Average for two years for which data are available. 

New Buildings and Other Improvements. 

As the amount of money spent for new buildings, 
land and other permanent improvements varies in all 
cities from year to year, statistics of expenditure for 
improvements in a single year might well be misleading 
— the figure for any one city might relate to a year of 



156 



City Document No. 87. 



Los Angelas 

Seattle 

Plttaburgh 

BOSTON 

Portland 

Kansas City 

Minneapolis 

St. Louis 

Washington 

Buffalo 

Newark 

Chicago 

Indianapolis 

Cleveland 

San Francisco 

Detroit 

Jersey City 

Philadelphia 

Milwaukee 

New Orleans 

Baltimore 



$10 



$20 



$30 



$40 



$50 



$6o 



Diagram 4. Expenditure for Operation and Maintenance of Schools Per Child in 
Average Daily Attendance for Boston and for 20 Other Cities. 



Portland 

San Francisco 

Buffalo 

Kansas City 

Chicago 

Newark 

Minneapolis 

Seattle 

Detroit 

Jersey City 

Los Angeles 

Cleveland 

Pittsburgh 

BOSTON 

Washington 

St. Louis 

Indianapolis 

Baltimore 

Philadelphia 

Milv»aukeo 

New Orleans 





$10 



$20 



$30 



$36.72 
34.89 
27.78 
21.57 
19.29 
19.19 
18.84 
18.54 
17.73 
16.63 
16.49 
13.81 
12.13 

11.39 
11.31 
10.86 
9.98 
8.93 
8.64 
7.60 
4.93 



Diagram 5. Outlay for Improvement of School Plant Per Child in Average 
Daily Attendance for Boston and for 20 Other Cities. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 157 

unusual expansion or to a year of unusually slow prog- 
ress. In order so far as possible to avoid this difficulty, 
average expenditures for all the recent years for which 
information is available have been divided by the 
average number of children in daily attendance in 
these years. Data for four years are available for 12 
of the 21 cities; data for three years, for 5 cities, 
including Boston; and data for two years for four 
cities. 

It appears from the table that Boston's expenditure 
for improvements is relatively low. The figure for Boston 
is $11.39, as compared with an average of $16.54 for the 
group of cities. Boston ranks fourteenth among the 21 
cities in expenditure for improvements. 

Operation* and Maintenance. 

While showing that Boston has been spending rela- 
tively little for improvements Table 4 also shows that, 
for the operation and maintenance of its schools, this 
city spends much more than the average city. Boston's 
expenditure for operation and maintenance per child in 
average daily attendance is $56.73, while the average 
for the group of cities is $48.87. Among the 21 cities 
Boston ranks fourth. The only cities spending more 
than Boston are Los Angeles and Seattle, two cities of 
the Pacific Coast, where salaries and other items of 
expenditure are in general much higher than in the 
East or the Middle West, and Pittsburgh, a city in which 
the reorganization of the schools has resulted in recent 
years in unusually large expenditures. 

Expenditures for operation and maintenance have 
now been compared on three different bases — popula- 
tion, wealth and attendance. In Diagram 6 the results 
of the three comparisons are shown together. It will be 
noted that Boston, while standing low in expenditure 
per unit of wealth, stands high both in expenditure per 
inhabitant and in expenditure per pupil in average 
daily attendance. As the same expenditure figures were 
used in computing each ratio, this difference in ranking 
means necessarily that Boston is, in relation to its 
population and its school attendance, an exceptionally 
wealthy city. It seems then that this city can afford 
better than some other cities liberal disbursements for 
the operation' and maintenance of schools. 



158 



City Document No. 87. 



Proportion of Expenditure Devoted to Special 
Activities. 



m 



The figures for operation and maint;enance appearing 
the tables already presented include amounts spent 



1 




1 


• 


1 


^KS 


2 


2 


3 


3 


5 


4 


4 


5 


5 


6 


6 


6 


7 


7 


7 


8 


8 


8 


9 


9 


9 


10 


10 


10 


11 


11 


11 


12 


^Ei^H 


12 


13 




13 


13 


14 


14 


14 


15 


15 


15 


l6 


i6 


16 


17 


17 


17 


18 


18 


18 


19 


19 


19 


20 


20 


20 


21 


21 


21 


E^endlture 

per 
inhabitant 


t 


Expenditure 
per $1^000 
axabie wealt 


f 

h £ 


Ejqpenditure 

per child in 

iveraje daily 

attendance 



The shaded rectangles represent Boston 

Diagram 6. Rank of Boston in a Group ofl2l Cities 
in Expenditure for Operation and Maintenance of 
Schools Per Inhabitant, Per $1,000 of Taxable Wealth, 
and Per Child in Average Daily Attendance. 

for evening schools and special schools, as well as amounts 
spent for elementary schools and high schools. 

It is evident that the ranking of the different cities, 
and Boston's position in the group, may be affected by 



Repoet on Boston Public Schools. 



159 



differences in the emphasis placed upon special activi- 
ties of various types. Thus, if Boston spends more for 
special schools than does the average city, this fact may 
be responsible in a large measure for Boston's relatively 
high expenditure for school purposes per inhabitant and 
per child in average daily attendance. While there is 
no reason why expenditure for special activities should 
not be included in a figure representing the total amount 
expended for school purposes, — the amounts that the 
different cities are spending for all school purposes are 
highly significant, — it is also important to know to 
what extent, if any, Boston's relative position is deter- 
mined by special emphasis upon school work other than 
that of the regular elementary schools and high schools. 
In order to ascertain whether or not Boston spends 
much more than the average city for the special activi- 
ties just mentioned, the portion of expenditure for 
instruction, for operation of plant, and for maintenance 
of plant which properly applies to elementary and 
secondary schools has been determined. Figures for 
the 10 cities for which information is available are given 
in Table 5. The statistics relate to 1912, the most 
recent year for which figures are available. 



TABLE 5. 

Proportion of Total Expenditure for Instruction and for Operation 
and Maintenance of Plant which is Used for Elementary and 
Secondary Schools in Boston and in 9 Other Cities. 1912. ^ 



City. 



Expenditure fob Instruction, 
Operation of Plant, and 
Maintenance of Plant. 



Total. 



Elementary and 
Secondary Schools. 



Per Cent 
of Total. 



Rank in Pro- 
portion of 
Total Expen- 
diture for In- 
struction, 
Operation of 
Plant, and 
Maintenance 

of Plant 

Devoted to 

Elementary 

and Secondary 

Schools. 



Boston 

Cleveland. . . 

Detroit 

Jersey City . . 
Minneapolis . 



Newark 

New Orleans . . 
Philadelphia . . 

Portland 

San Francisco. 



$4,185,754 
2,659,678 
2,045,879 
1,157,700 
1,930,476 

2,278,927 
1,040,827 
5,713,861 
1,107,864 
1,772,058 



$3,949,195 
2,466,094 
1,942,699 
1,099,920 
1,901,165 

1,975,222 
980,416 
5,406,914 
1,067,100 
1,682,254 



94.3 
92.7 
95.0 
95.0 
98.5 

86.7 
94.2 
94.6 
96.3 
94.9 



7 
9 
4 
3 
1 

10 
8 
6 
2 
5 



Average . 



94.2 



1 Annual report United States Commissioner of Education, 1912, Volume II., chapter II., 
Table 10, Part II. 



160 City Document No. 87. 

It appears from the table that in Boston, while the 
proportion of the total expenditure which applies to 
elementary and secondary schools is lower than in some 
cities, it is higher than in others. Boston ranks seventh 
among the 10 cities for which data are available in the 
ratio of expenditure for elementary and secondary 
schools to all expenditures for the purposes mentioned. 
While 94.3 per cent of the Boston expenditures are for 
elementary and secondary schools, Cleveland devotes but 
92.7 per cent and Newark 86.7 per cent of its total 
expenditures to these schools. The percentage for four 
other cities, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Detroit and 
Jersey City, exceed by only a very narrow margin — 
less than 1 per cent — the percentage recorded for 
Boston. The average for the group of cities is 94.2 
per cent. 

According to data supplied by the Business Agent of 
the Boston School Committee, out of Boston's total 
expenditure of $5,516,762 for the operation and main- 
tenance of its schools, about $5,129,000, or 93 per cent, 
was expended for the regular work of elementary schools, 
secondary schools and kindergartens. The figure cited 
is not wholly accurate, as it includes all administrative 
expenditures, a small proportion of which is properly 
chargeable to special activities. It is, however, an inter- 
esting point that Boston's approximate expenditure for 
elementary and secondary schools per child in average 
dailv attendance in those schools (the quotient obtained 
by dividing $5,129,000 by 97,248) is $52.74, a figure 
higher than the average expenditure for all school pur- 
poses reported in Table 4 for the group of cities. 

It is clear that the factor just considered affects the 
total amount spent. It affects also, in a different way, 
the ratios showing expenditure per pupil in average 
daily attendance, presented in Table 4 and in tables 
appearing elsewhere in the report. As these per capitas 
have been computed by dividing total expenditures for 
all purposes by the number of children attending ele- 
mentary schools, secondary schools and kindergartens, 
any variation as between the cities in the ratio of pupils 
in these schools to all pupils, or in the ratio of expendi- 
tures for elementary schools and secondary schools to 
all expenditures, introduces an element of error in the 
comparisons. It has been seen, however, that, in the 
cities for which information is available, the variation 
in ratios of expenditure for the regular school purposes 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 161 

to total expenditures is not a wide one. Moreover, as 
no city is without some special activities, the omission 
of children attending these schools from the divisor 
used in computing ratios tends in all cases to increase 
expenditure per pupil in average daily attendance — 
the factor everywhere operates in the same direction. 
This subject is discussed more fully in the Appendix. 



Itemized Expenditures for Operation and Main- 
tenance. 

As the expenditure of a city school system for operation 
and maintenance is the aggregate of a number of items, 
Boston's relatively high expenditure may be due either 
to large disbursements for all or a large proportion of the 
purposes represented by these items, or to exceptionally 
large expenditures for one or a few purposes. A con- 
sideration of the amounts spent for the different items 
may reveal significant facts about the apportionment of 
school expenditures. 

In the reports of the Commissioner of Education, 
expenditures for operation and maintenance are classified 
under 16 heads. The items represented by these heads 
differ widely in importance, and certain items relate to 
activities which are provided for from school funds in 
some cities but not in others. Cities differ as to the 
free provision of textbooks and as to the maintenance of 
school libraries. While nearly all cities seek to protect 
the health of children attending the public schools, this 
work is done in some instances by the city department 
of health and the expenditures made are not included 
in school expenditures. In some instances the schools 
pay for their water supply; in others, water is supplied 
by the municipality. On the other hand, all cities must 
provide for the salaries of a superintendent, of principals 
and of teachers; for the maintenance and repair of build- 
ings, and for the support of administrative offices. As 
the variations in practice just mentioned affect the 
comparability of data, expenditures for Boston and the 
other cities will be shown only for items representing 
activities essential to the operation of the public schools 
which are everywhere under the control of the educa- 
tional authorities. 



162 City Document No. 87. 

Tables 6, 7, and 8 show expenditure per child in aver- 
age daily attendance in Boston and in 20 other cities for 
each of the following purposes : 

Office of board and other business offices. 

Superintendent's office. 

Salaries and expenses of supervisors. 

Salaries and expenses of principals. 

Salaries of teachers. 

Stationery, supplies and other instruction expenses. 

Wages of janitors and other employees. 

Fuel. 

Maintenance — repairs, replacement of equipment, etc- 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



163 



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166 



City Document No. 87. 



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Report on Boston Public Schools. 



167 



The data of Table 6 are summarized in Tables 7 and 8, 
and in Diagram 7. In Table 7 Boston's expenditure 
per child in average daily attendance for each item of 




operation and maintenance is compared with the cor- 
responding figures for the other cities and with averages 
for the group of cities. The rankings of the different 
cities are shown in Table 8. 



168 City Document No. 87. 

While the items of expenditure for which information 
is presented in Table 6 represent purposes for which all 
the cities spend school money, it is not impossible that, 
by reason of the differences in classification referred to 
above, certain items which have been included under 
one head in one city have been included under different 
heads in other cities. This is an objection which does 
not apply, it will be noted, to the figures for total expend- 
iture for operation and maintenance given in preceding 
tables. 

In order to make certain that, for Boston at least, the 
expenditures included under each item were the expend- 
itures called for by the schedule of the Commissioner of 
Education, information relative to details of the Boston 
classification was secured from the Business Agent of the 
Boston School Committee and from his published reports. 
The examination of the Boston figures shows that the 
local authorities had been careful to meet in all respects 
the requirements of the schedule. The schedule had 
been filled out fully and with care. 

For the information of persons familiar with the 
Boston situation, but not with the detailed requirements 
of the Commissioner's classification, it may be well to 
discuss briefly at this point some of the items included in 
the figures reported for Boston under the various heads 
of the tables. Table 6 shows that Boston's expenditure 
for the office of the School Committee and other business 
offices amounted to nearly $184,000. This large amount 
includes, among other items, expenditures for the office 
of the Business Agent, operation and maintenance of an 
office building, and, what is by far the largest single item, 
the expenses of the Schoolljouse Commission. A School- 
house Commission, such as that existing in Boston, respon- 
sible for the building and maintenance of schools, is 
an unusual feature of a city school system. As the 
Boston Commission exercises functions which are in 
most cities carried on by the business offices of the 
schools, its expenses are properly included under the 
head "office of board and other business offices." 

Boston's expenditure for the "superintendent's office" 
is reported as over $107,000. This item includes, as it 
should, expenditures of all offices having as their function 
centralized educational administration and supervision. 
Thus, it includes not only the amount spent for main- 
taining the office of the Superintendent of Schools, but 
the expenditure for assistant superintendents, for the 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 169 

department of the Director of Practice and Training, and 
for the enforcement of compulsory education and truancy 
laws. The expenses of maintaining the "certificating 
office," an office charged with the granting of working 
papers to children, a function which is somewhat more 
highly developed in Boston than in most cities, has been 
included with expenditures for the office of the Super- 
intendent of Schools. 

As it is customary in some cities to buy fuel in large 
quantities, carrying over considerable supplies from 
year to year, figures for a single year might not be sig- 
nificant. To remedy this difficulty expenditures for 
several recent years have been averaged. 

The item "salaries of teachers" embraces all expendi- 
tures for teaching, including the salaries of substitute 
teachers, special assistant teachers and temporary 
teachers. 

An examination of Table 7 shows that Boston spends 
more than the average city for most items of school 
expenditure. The purposes for which Boston's expendi- 
tures exceed the average are: 

Office of board and other business offices. 

Superintendent's office. 

Salaries and expenses of supervisors. 

Salaries of teachers. 

Stationery, supplies and other instruction expenses. 

Wages of janitors and other employees. 

Fuel. 

Maintenance — repairs, replacement of equipment, etc. 

Boston's per capita expenditure is lower than the 
average for only one item of the nine appearing in the 
table — salaries and expenses of principals. In expendi- 
ture for each item Boston ranks among the cities for 
which information is available as follows: 



PUKPOSE. 



Rank. 



Office of board and other business offices 

Superintendent's office 

Salaries and expenses of supervisors 

Salaries and expenses of principals 

Salaries of teachers 

Stationery, supplies and other instruction expenses 

Wages of janitors and other employees 

Fuel (average for several years) 

Maintenance — repairs, replacement of equipment, etc . 



5 
2 
5 

11 
4 
8 
6 

10 
4 



170 



City Document No. 87. 



Some of the items of expenditure shown in Tables 6, 7, 
and 8 seem to call for special mention. 

Salaries of Teachers Per Pupil in Average Daily 
Attendance. 

In Boston, as in all the other cities dealt with in the 
comparison, salaries of teachers constitute the chief item 
of educational expenditure. This item consumes, for the 
group of cities considered together, about half the com- 
bined expenditure for operation, maintenance, and for 
new buildings and other improvements. Because of its 
preponderant effect upon the total of school expenditures, 
and also because of its intimate bearing upon educational 
results, the subject may well be considered somewhat in 
detail. 

Size of Classes. 

Table 7 shows that for salaries of teachers Boston 
spends more per pupil in average daily attendance than 
does the average city. This relatively high per capita 
expenditure may be due either to small classes per 
teacher, to high salaries per teacher, or to a combination 
of the two conditions. Whether or not the first condition 
is present in Boston may be ascertained by comparing 
the number of children in average daily attendance per 
teacher employed with corresponding ratios for the other 
cities for which data are available. The figures for 
elementary schools are given in Table 9. 



TABLE 9. 

Average Size of Classes in Elementary Schools and Kindergartens 
in Boston and in 20 Other Cities. 1914.i 





Teachers 
Employed. 


Children in Average 
Daily Attendance. 


Rank in 

Number of 


City. 


Number. 


Number 
Per Teacher. 


Teachers 
Per 1,000 
Children. 


Baltimore 


1,684 
2,299 
1,573 
1,230 
1,800 


55,713 
83,678 
44,057 
36,104 
67,293 


33.1 
36.4 
28.0 
29.4 
37.4 


12 


Boston 


18 


Buffalo 


3 


Cincinnati 


5 


Cleveland 


19 







■ The figures for Cleveland are from the 1913-14 report of the Superintendent of Schools; 
those for the other 20 cities are from the annual report of the United States Commissioner 
of Education for 1914, Volume II., chapter II., Table 9. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



171 



TABLE 9.— Concluded. 



City. 



Teachers 
Employed. 



Children in Average 
Daily Attendance. 



Number. 



Number 
Per Teacher. 



Rank in 
Number of 
Teachers 
Per 1,000 
Children. 



Detroit 

Indianapolis . 
Jersey City . 
Kansas City. 
Los Angeles . 



Milwaukee . . . 
Minneapolis . 

Newark 

New Orleans . 
Philadelphia . 



Pittsburgh . . . . 

Portland 

San Francisco. 

Seattle 

St. Louis 

Washington . . . 



Average. 



1,534 

854 

781 

958 

1,807 

1,210 
1,120 
1,463 
1,064 

4,764 

1,799 

815 

1,081 

757 
1,882 
1,426 



51,580 
26,421 
30,023 

28,897 
48,515 

42,515 
34,552 
50,472 
31,268 
161,509 

55,723 
21,785 
38,485 

23,966 
71,992 
40,821 



33.6 
30.9 
38.4 
30.2 
26.8 

35.1 
30.8 
34.5 
29.4 
33.9 

31.0 
26.7 
35.6 

31.7 
38.3 
28.6 



32.4 



13 

9 

21 

7 
2 

16 
8 

15 
6 

14 

10 

1 

17 

11 
20 

4 



10 



20 



30 



Portland 

Lo3 Angeles 

Buffalo 

Washington 

Cincinnati 

Ne.v Orleans 

Kane as City 

Minneapolis 

Indianapolis 

Pittsburgh 

Seattle 

Baltimore 

Detroit 

Philadelphia 

Newark 

Mi Iwaukee 

San Francisco 

BOSTON 

Cleveland 

St, Loula 

Jersey City 



Pupils per teacher 



26.7 
26.6 
28.0 
28.6 
29.4 
29.4 
30.2 
30.8 
30.9 
31.0 
31.7 
33.1 
33.6 
33.9 
34.5 
35.1 
35.6 
36.4 
37.4 
38.3 
38.4 



Diagram 8. Pupils in Average Daily Attendance in Elementary Schools and 
Kindergartens Per Teacher Employed for Boston and for 20 Other Cities. 



172 



City Document No. 87. 



The table shows that in Boston's elementary schools 
the classes are much larger than in most cities. In 
Boston the average number of pupils per teacher is 
36.4, while the corresponding figure for the group of 
cities is 32.4. Among the 21 cities for which data are 
available Boston ranks eighteenth in the number of 
teachers employed per 1,000 children in average daily 
attendance. Of the 21 cities, but three, Cleveland, 
St. Louis and Jersey City, have larger classes than 
Boston. 

Data relative to the size of classes in secondary 
schools are given in Table 10. 

TABLE 10. 

Average Size of Classes in Secondary Schools in Boston and in 20 
Other Cities. 1914.i 



City. 



Teachers 
Employed. 



Children in Average 
Daily Attendance. 



Number. 



Number 

Per 
Teacher. 



Rank in 
Number of 
Teachers 
Per 1,000 
Children. 



Baltimore. 
Boston. . . . 
Buffalo.... 
Cincinnati . 
Cleveland. 



Detroit 

Indianapolis . 
Jersey City . 
Kansas City . 
Los Angeles. 



Milwaukee. . . 
Minneapolis . 

Newark 

New Orleans. 
Philadelphia . 



Pittsburgh. . . . 

Portland 

San Francisco. 

Seattle 

St. Louis 

Washington. . . 



505 
163 

188 
354 

285 
167 
124 
228 
480 

220 

288 

173 

95 

668 

288 
169 
118 

235 
311 
316 



4,365 
13,570 
3,673 
3,863 
7,164 

5,594 
3,832 
2,893 
4,362 
8,696 

4,090 
6,207 
3,245 
1,920 
12,320 

5,367 
3,944 
3,198 

4,656 
5,959 
5,770 



19.1 
26.9 
22.5 
20.5 
20.2 

19.6 
22.9 
23.3 
19.1 
18.1 

18.6 
21.6 

18.8 
20.2 
18.4 

18.6 
23.3 
27.1 

19.8 
19.2 
18.3 



20 
16 
14 
12 

10 

17 

18 

7 

1 

4 
15 

6 
13 

3 

5 
19 
21 

11 
9 

2 



Average . 



20.8 



1 The figures for Cleveland are from the 1913-14 report of the Superintendent of Schools; 
those for the other 20 cities are from the annual report of the United States Commissioner 
of Education for 1914, Volume II., chapter II., Table 9. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



173 



In Boston's secondary schools, as in the elementary- 
schools, the classes are abnormally large. The average 
number of pupils per teacher in secondary schools is 
26.9 in Boston, while the average for the group of 
cities is 20.8. Of the 21 cities only one, San Francisco, 
reports a smaller number of teachers per 1,000 pupils 
than does Boston. 



10 



15 



20 



25 



Los Angeles 

Itrashlngton 

Philadelphia 

(Milwaukee 

Pittsburgh 

tTewark 

Kansas City 

Baltimore 

St. Louis 

Detroit 

Seattls 

Cleveland 

Uew Orleans 

Cincinnati 

Minneapolis 

Buffalo 

Indianapolis 

Jersey City 

Portland 

BOSTON 

San Franclsoo 



Diagram 9. 



P\:53ll8 per teacher 



18.1 
18.3 
16-. 4 
18.€ 
18.6 
18.8 
19.1 
19.3 
19-. Z 
19.^ 
19. £ 
20 .-2 
20.2 
20.; 
21.6 

22.; 

22. S 
23.3 
23.: 
26.5 
27.: 



Pupils in Average Daily Attendance in Secondary Schools PerJTeacher 
Employed for Boston and for 20 Other Cities. 



Salaeies Per Teacher. 

As Boston's relatively large expenditure for teachers' 
salaries per child in average daily attendance is clearly 
not due to small classes, it follows that it must be due 
to high salaries to individual teachers. Data relative 
to the annual salaries of teachers in elementary and in 
secondary schools are presented in Table 11. 



174 



City Document No. 87. 



TABLE II. 
Annual Salaries of Teachers in Boston and in 14 Other Cities.* 



City. 



Median Ankual Salaries 
OF Regular Teachers in ^ 



Elementary 
Schools. 



Secondary 
Schools. 



Rank in Median Sala- 
ries OF Regular 
Teachers in 2 



Elementary 
Schools. 



Secondary 
Schools. 



Baltimore 

Boston 

Chicago 

Cincinnati 

Cleveland 

Indianapolis 

Milwaukee 

Minneapolis 

Newark 

New Orleans 

Philadelphia 

Po rtland 

San Francisco 

St. Louis 

Washington 

Average of medians 



$700 
1,176 
1,175 
1,000 
900 

875 

876 

1,000 

1,000 

700 

900 
1,050 
1,200 
1,032 

750 



$1,200 
1,620 
1,600 
1,300 
1,500 

1,100 
1,260 
1,400 
1,900 
1,100 

1,400 
1,350 
1,680 
1,520 
1,800 



14 or 15 

2 

3 

6, 7 or 8 

9 or 10 

12 

11 
6, 7 or 8 
6, 7 or 8 
14 or 15 

9 or 10 

4 

1 

5 

13 



13 

4 

5 

11 

7 

14 or 15 

12 
8 or 9 

1 
14 or 15 

8 or 9 

10 

3 

6 

2 



$956 



$1,449 



1 Data for Cleveland from pay roll for 1914-15; data for other cities, for 1913-14, from 
"Tangible Rewards of Teaching," United States Bureau of Education. 

- With teachers ranked in descending order according to size of salaries, the "median" 
salary is the salary received by the teacher half way down the list. 



The figures appearing in the first two columns of 
Table 1 1 are medians — measures which correspond 
roughly to averages. In salaries paid to teachers in 
elementary schools Boston ranks second among the 15 
cities for which data are available. The median annual 
salary in Boston is $1,176, while the corresponding 
figure for the group of cities is $956. But it should be 
noted that, in computing medians for Boston's elemen- 
tary schools, substitute teachers, special assistant and 
temporary teachers, who in Boston are compensated at 
the rate of $2 a day, have not been included. If these 
teachers had been considered in making up the figures 
presented in the table, the median for Boston would 
have been lower, and Boston's rank among the group 
of cities might also have been affected. (It seems 
improbable, however, that Boston's ranking would have 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



175 



SaJi Francisco 

BOSTON 

Chicago 

Portland 

St. Louis 

Cincinnati 

Minneapolis 

Newark 

Cleveland 

Philadelphia 

Milwaukee 

Indianapolis 

Washington 

Baltimore 

New Orleans 



Diagram 10. 



$250 



$1,200 
1,176 

1,175 
1,050 

1,032 
1,000 
1,000 
1,000 

. 900 
900 
876 

875 
750 
700 
700 



$500 $750 $1,000 

Median aiuiual salaries 

Median Annual Salaries of Teachers in Elementary Schools, for 
Boston and for 14 Other Cities. 



Newark 

Washington 

San Francisco 

BOSTON 

Chicago 

St. Louis 

Cleveland 

Minne£^olie 

Philadelphia 

Portland 

Cincinnati 

Milwaukee 

Baltimore 

Indianapolis 

New Orleans 



$500 $1,000 $1,509 

Median annual salaries 



$1,900 
1,800 
1,680 
1,620 
1,600 
1,520 
1,500 
1,400 
1,400 
1,350 
1,300 
1,260 
1,200 
1,100 
1,100 



Diagram 11. Median Annual Salaries of Teachers in Secondary Schools, for 
Boston and for 14 Other Cities. 



176 



City Document No. 87. 



been seriously affected.) In annual salaries paid to 
teachers in secondary schools Boston ranks fourth 
among the 15 cities. The median salary in Boston's 
secondary schools is $1,620, as compared with an average 
for all the cities of $1,449. 

It seems worth while to present the available infor- 
mation relative to teachers' salaries in somewhat greater 
detail. Table 12 shows, for each of the cities compared, 
the salaries of regular teachers in elementary schools 
who, if all the teachers of the city were ranked in ascend- 
ing order according to annual salaries, would stand, 
respectively, one tenth, three tenths, five tenths, seven 
tenths and nine tenths of the way through the list. 
Similar information for secondary school teachers appears 
n Table 13. 

TABLE 12. 

Distribution of Annual Salaries of Regular Teachers in Elementary 
Schools in Boston and in 14 Other Cities.^ 



City. 



Salaries not Exceeding the Amounts Specified 
WERE Earned by Teachers Bearing to the 
Aggregate Number Employed in Each 
City the Proportion of 



10 
Per 
Cent. 



30 
Per 
Cent. 



50 

Per 

Cent. 



70 

Per 

Cent. 



90 
Per 

Cent. 



Baltimore. . . . 

Boston 

Chicago 

Cincinnati . . . . 
Cleveland. . . . 

Indianapolis. . 
Milwaukee. . . 
Minneapolis. . 

Newark 

New Orleans . 

Philadelphia. . 

Portland 

San Francisco 

St. Louis 

Washington. . 

Average. , 



$600 
648 
675 
700 
600 

475 
876 
750 
630 
600 

630 
825 
840 
700 
625 



$700 
840 
975 
900 
750 

625 
876 
950 
780 
600 

780 
1,000 
1,164 
1,032 

700 



$700 
1,176 
1,175 
1,000 
900 

875 

876 

1,000 

1,000 

700 

900 
1,050 
1,200 
1,032 

750 



$750 
1,176 
1,175 
1,000 
1,000 

925 

876 

1,000 

1,100 

750 

940 
1,050 
1,224 
1,032 

890 



1,224 
1,200 
1,000 
1,000 

925 

876 

1,000 

1,300 

800 

1,000 
1,100 
1,224 
1,120 
980 



$672 



$956 



$993 



$1,037 



1 Data for Cleveland from pay roll for 1914-15; data for other cities, for 1913-14, from 
"Tangible Rewards of Teaching," United States Bureau of Education. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



177 



TABLE 13. 

Distribution of Annual Salaries of Regular Teachers in Secondary 
Schools in Boston and in 14 Other Cities.^ 



City. 



Salaries not Exceeding the Amounts Specified 

WERE Earned by Teachers Bearing to the 

Aggregate Number Employed in Each 

City the Proportion of 



10 
Per 
Cent. 



30 

Per 

Cent. 



50 
Per 

Cent. 



70 
Per 

Cent. 



90 

Per 

Cent. 



Baltimore. . . 

Boston 

Chicago 

Cincinnati . . . 
Cleveland 

Indianapolis . 
Milwaukee . . 
Minneapolis . , 

Newark 

New Orleans. 

Philadelphia . , 

Portland 

San Francisco 

St. Louis 

Washington. . 

Average. 



$780 


$1,000 


$1,200 


$1,300 


1,044 


1,260 


1,620 


1,908 


1,100 


1,400 


1,600 


1,800 


900 


1,100 


1,300 


1,800 


1,100 


■ 1,300 


1,500 


1,800 


900 


1,000 


1,100 


1,200 


1,260 


1,260 


1,260 


1,260 


1,100 


1,300 


1,400 


1,500 


1,400 


1,600 


1,900 


2,100 


750 


900 


1,100 


1,150 


1,000 


1,250 


1,400 


1,600 


1,200 


1,300 


1,350 


1,350 


1,680 


1,680 


1,680 


2,040 


1,120 


1,300 


1,520 


1,700 


1,300 


1,600 


1,800 


1,800 


$1,109 


$1,283 


$1,449 


$1,621 



$1,800 
3,060 
2,300 
2,300 
2,000 

1,500 
1,380 
1,600 
2,500 
1,400 

2,500 
1,600 
2,040 
2,100 
1,800 



$1,992 



1 Data for Cleveland from pay roll for 1914-15; data for other cities for 1913-14, from 
"Tangible Rewards of Teaching," United States Bureau of Education. 



An examination of Table 12 shows that, while the 
salaries of those elementary school teachers whose wages 
are lowest are not higher in Boston than in the average 
city, Boston is much more liberal than the average city 
with respect to salaries of teachers in the upper ranges 
of its salary schedule. A similar condition is shown by 
Table 13 to prevail in secondary schools. The 10 per 
cent of secondary school teachers who receive least and 
the 30 per cent who receive least, are not as well com- 
pensated in Boston as in the average city; but, to the 
members of the secondary school force who receive the 
highest salaries, Boston pays more than any other city in 
the group. 



178 City Document No. 87. 



Salaries of Principals. 

Table 7 shows that for salaries and expenses of princi- 
pals Boston spends $3.29 per pupil, as compared with an 
average expenditure for the group of cities of $3.32. 
While the difference between the city figure and the 
average is very slight, Boston stands lower in the group 
of cities for this item than for any other. The figure 
for Boston is not, however, comparable with the average 
for all the cities. 

Boston's schools are organized on a district system 
by which a single elementary school principal or master 
has under his authority a number of schools. The 
principals have assistants, known as submasters, masters' 
assistants and assistants in charge, who are in direct 
control of the different schools and who have duties 
analagous to those performed in many cities by persons 
known as principals. In Tables 6 and 7 the compensa- 
tion of submasters, masters' assistants and assistants in 
charge has been included with the compensation of 
teachers. If the salaries of these officers were deducted 
from the total salaries of teachers and added to the 
salaries of principals, the adjustment, in relative terms, 
would reduce the salaries of teachers per pupil very little, 
but it would have the effect of greatly increasing the 
expenditure per pupil for salaries and expenses of 
principals. 

In Boston the number of submasters is in excess of 80, 
and their salaries range to above $2,000. The total 
expenditure for salaries and expenses of principals, 
reported in Table 6" and used in computing the per 
capitas of Table 7, was $320,187. It is clear that, if 
the salaries, not only of submasters, but of masters' 
assistants and assistants in charge, were added to this 
amount, a ratio based on the new total would give 
Boston a very high rank among the cities in expenditure 
per pupil for salaries of principals. 

In Table 14 the salaries of elementary school principals 
are shown by the method employed in Tables 12 and 13 
to show salaries of teachers. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



179 



TABLE 14. 

Distribution of Annual Salaries of Principals in Elementary Schools 

in Boston and in 14 Other Cities. ^ 



City. 



Salaries not Exceeding the Amounts Specified 

WERE Earned by Principal8 Bearing to the 

Aggregate Number Employed in Each 

City the Proportion op 



10 

Per 

Cent. 



30 
Per 
Cent. 



50 
Per 
Cent. 



70 

Per 

Cent. 



90 

Per 

Cent. 



Baltimore . . . , 

Boston 

Chicago 

Cincinnati . . . . 
Cleveland . . . , 

Indianapolis . . 
Milwaukee . . . 
Minneapolis . . 

Newark 

New Orleans . 

Philadelphia . . 

Portland 

San Francisco 

St. Louis 

Washington . . 

Average . . 



$1,900 
2,580 
1,800 
1,800 
1,320 

950 
1,980 
1,100 
2,000 

900 

1,100 
1,250 
1,560 
1,220 
1,130 



$2,000 
2,940 
2,600 
1,900 
1,480 

1,100 
1,980 
1,300 
2,400 
1,150 

1,510 
1,650 
1,800 
2,000 
1,310 



$2,000 
3,300 
2,800 
2,200 
1,560 

1,300 
1,980 
1,600 
2,600 
1,250 

1,600 
1,750 
1,800 
2,500 
1,510 



$2,000 
3,300 
3,100 
2,400 
1,650 

1,500 
1,980 
1,800 
2,900 
1,300 

2,380 
2,050 
2,160 
3,000 
1,540 



$2,000 
3,300 
3,100 
2,400 
1,840 

1,800 
1,980 
2,100 
3,000 
1,350 

2,500 
2,150 
2,340 
3,000 
1,890 



$1,506 



$1,808 



$1,983 



$2,204 



J,317 



1 Data for Cleveland from pay roll for 1914-15; data for other cities for 1913-14, from 
"Tangible Rewards of Teaching," United States Bureau of Education. 

An examination of the columns of the table shows 
that Boston provides for the salaries of persons classi- 
fied as principals with greater liberality than any- 
other city. Not only is the median salary higher in 
Boston than elsewhere, but this city is seen to lead in 
all portions of the salary schedule. 

Expenditure for Fuel. 

Expenditure for fuel is another item of the compari- 
son as to which Boston stands relatively low. Among 
the 21 cities Boston ranks tenth in expenditure for this 
purpose. As the Massachusetts winter climate is severe, 
it would naturally be supposed that expenditure for 
fuel would be as high in this city as in some cities for 
which higher rankings are given; as, for example, Wash- 
ington, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, and Chicago. 
While facts affording a complete explanation are not 



180 City Document No. 87. 

available, it may be noted that in Boston the school 
authorities make an earnest effort to secure, in pur- 
chasing fuel, full value for what is paid. Coal is bought 
on a heat unit basis and samples of all lots are carefulh^ 
tested. The large classes and small class rooms which 
prevail in Boston must also tend to keep down the 
amounts spent per pupil for fuel. 

Expenditures Classified According to Function — 
Administration, Instruction, Care of School 
Plant. 

The items of expenditure dealt with in the preceding 
tables may be classified according to the general type of 
work to which they relate. In the operation and main- 
tenance of a school system three types of function are 
included: administration, instruction and the care of 
the physical plant. Expenditures for the office of the 
board and other business offices and for the superin- 
tendent's office are the expenses of administration; 
salaries and expenses of supervisors, salaries and expenses 
of principals, salaries of teachers, and expenditures for 
stationer}^, supplies and other instruction expenses are 
expenditures on account of instruction; and wages of 
janitors and other emploj'ees, expenditures for fuel, 
and "maintenance^ — ^ repairs, replacement of equipment, 
etc.," are expenditures on account of the care of the 
school plant. A classification of the expenditures of 
Boston and of the other 20 cities under the broad heads 
of administration, instruction, and care of the school 
plant is of value for two reasons: (1) Such a classifica- 
tion will show better than the more detailed statement 
the emphasis which the School Committee places on the 
different school functions. (2) By adopting a broad 
scheme of classification certain sources of error in the 
statistical comparisons are eliminated. Thus, for Seattle 
it is impossible to distinguish salaries of principals from 
salaries of teachers, but, with both items combined 
under "instruction," such a distinction becomes immate- 
rial. The figures are given in Table 15. 

Boston spends more than the average city for each of 
the three types of activity represented by the groupings 
of the table. For administration Boston spends $3 per 
child in average daily attendance, as compared with an 
average of $1.93 for the group of cities; for instruction 
Boston spends $42.26, while the average is $37.69; and 
for care of plant Boston spends $8.58, while the aver- 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



181 



age city spends $6.64. Among the 21 cities Boston 
stands fifth in expenditure for administration, fourth in 
expenditure for instruction, and fourth in expenditure 
for care of plant. It is beheved that these rankings and 



TABLE 15. 

Expenditure Per Child in Average Daily Attendance for Adminis=- 
tration, for Instruction, and for Care of School Plant in Boston 
and in 20 Other Cities. 1914.i 





Expenditure per Child 

IN Average Daily 

Attendance fob 


Rank in Expendi- 
ture PER Child in 
Average Daily 
Attendance fob 


CiTT. 


d 

13 

'b 

•a 
< 


o 
o 

3 


o 
o 

-d 

to . 

^§ 

Cn. 
^^ 

o 


d 


1 
.3 

.a 
a 

< 


d 


3 
1 



"ofl 

6" 


Baltimore 


$0 91 
3 00 
1 12 

1 51 

2 38 

65 
1 92 
1 51 

3 17 

3 01 

1 10 

1 04 

2 08 
96 

1 96 

4 15 

2 72 
1 22 

1 68 

3 49 

85 


$26 27 
42 26 
38 01 
36 72 
33 12 

35 78 
33 31 
33 47 
38 60 
53 66 

31 75 
40 43 
40 39 
27 042 
30 58 

40 31 
45 01 

40 08 

47 78 
35 76 

41 25 


$3 82 

8 58 

9 07 

7 85 

8 09 

7 10 
6 67 
5 55 
5 64 
5 97 

3 353 

8 47 

4 65 
3 16 

5 76 

10 94 

6 42 
3 38^ 

7 61 
10 54 

6 88 


19 

5 

15 

13 

7 

21 

10 

12 

3 

4 

16 
17 

8 

18 

9 

1 

6 

14 

11 

2 

20 


21 
4 
11 
12 
17 

13 
16 
15 
10 
1 

18 

6 

7 

20 

19 

8 
3 
9 

2 

14 

5 


18 


Boston 


4 


Buffalo 


3 


Chicago 


7 


Cleveland 


6 


Detroit . 


9 


Indianapolis 


11 


Jersey City 


16 


Kansas City 


15 


Los Angeles 


13 


Milwaukee 


20 


Minneapolis 


5 


Newark 


17 


New Orleans 


21 


Philadelphia 


14 


Pittsburgh 


1 


Portland 


12 


San Francisco 


19 


Seattle 


8 


St. Louis 

Washington 


2 
10 






Average 


$1 93 


$37 69 


$6 64 

















' Based on figurer. presented in Table 7. 

2 Expenditure for "stationery, supplies, and other instruction expenses" not included. 
A higher figure for New Orleans could serve only to lower the relative position of Boston. 

3 Expenditure for "maintenance — repairs, replacement of equipment, etc.," not included. 

per capitas, viewed in connection with the rankings and 
per capitas of preceding tables, show that in Boston 
expenditure is rather well balanced; that there is no 
general tendency to emphasize one class of activity at 
the expense of other activities. 



182 



City Document No. 87. 



Proportion of Children in Private Schools. 

The proportion of children attending private and 
parochial schools is a factor having a dirject bearing 
upon school expenditures. In American cities the 



10 



11 



12 



13 



14 



15 



16 



17 



18 



19 



20 



21 



Administration 




10 



11 



12 



13 



14 



15 



16 



17 



18 



19 



20 



21 



Instruction 




10 



11 



12 



13 



14 



15 



16 



17 



18 



19 



20 



21 



Care of 

school plant 

The shaded rectangles represent Boston 
Diagram 12. Rank of Boston in a Group of 21 Cities 
in Expenditure Per Child in Average Daily Attendance 
for Administration, Instruction and Care of School 
Plant. 



public school must be prepared, and in theory is pre- 
pared, to supply instruction to all children of school 
age in the community. The educational work of 
cities is not, however, carried on exclusively by the 
public school — in nearly all large cities a substantial 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



183 



proportion of all the children are in private and parochial 
schools. It is evident that where private organiza- 
tions undertake the schooling of children who would 
otherwise be in the public schools, the authorities are 
relieved of a financial burden. 

Table 16 shows, for the cities for which information 
is available, the ratio of children in private and paro- 
chial schools to children attending the public schools. 



TABLE 16. 

Ratio of Pupils in Private Schools to Pupils Enrolled in Public Day 
Schools for Boston and for 15 Other Cities. 1914.^ 



City. 



Enrollment 
in Public 

Day 
Schools. 



Pupils in Private Schools 
(Lahqelt Estimated). 



Number. 



Number per 
1,000 Pupils 

in PubUo 
Day 

Schools. 



Baltimore . 
Boston .... 
Buffalo.... 
Chicago . . . 
Cincinnati . 



Cleveland. . . 

Detroit 

Indianapolis . 
Kansas City . 
Minneapolis . 

Philadelphia . 
Pittsburgh . . . 
Portland . . . . 



San Francisco. 

Seattle 

St. Louis 



77,219 
119,105 

63,613 
355,668 

46,250 

90,413 
77,024 
38,372 
43,282 
49,167 

231,385 
79,253 
33,142 

50,686 
35,527 

97,858 



15,000 
20,743 
27,086 
114,000 
18,807 

32,106 

26,864 

5,644 

5,005 

4,500 

70,112 

25,605 

5,000 

10,025 

3,476 

30,000 



194 
174 

426 
321 
407 

355 
349 
147 
116 
92 

303 
323 
151 

198 

98 

307 



Average . 



248 



1 Data from the annual report of the United States Commissioner of Education for 
1914, Volume II., chapter II., Table 10. 



As is indicated in the column headings, the figures 
showing the number of children in private schools are 
largely estimated. The figures are, therefore, to be 
accepted with a certain amount of caution. But, even 
when all necessary allowance has been made for pos- 
sible inaccuracies, it is clear that there is a wide varia- 



184 City Document No. 87. 

tion as between the cities in the proportion of children 
in private schools. The ratio of such children to 
children attending the public schools ranges from 426 
per 1,000 in Buffalo to 92 per 1,000 in Minneapolis. 
In Boston but 174 children are reported in private 
or parochial schools for every 1,000 in the public schools. 
As the average for the group of cities is 248 this figure 
is low. Among the 16 cities for which information is 
available Boston ranks eleventh in the proportion of 
children in private schools. 

It is clear that, if in Boston the proportion of children 
in private schools had approached more nearly the 
average for the group of cities, the city could have 
maintained its schools, at the prevailing rate per pupil, 
on a total expenditure materially lower than that re- 
ported. This would have resulted in a lower expenditure 
per inhabitant and per $1,000 of wealth. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 185 



CHAPTEE VIII.— THE CONSTRUCTION OE 
SCHOOL BUILDINGS. 



It is a difficult matter to make an accurate comparison 
between the costs of two or more school buildings, 
unless they are constructed on precisely the same plan 
and built on similar sites. As differences between school 
buildings increase, the difficulty of comparing their costs 
becomes rapidly greater. The reason for this is that 
there is no single satisfactory unit of comparison. 

Cost Per Pupil. 
Perhaps the commonest unit for comparing the 
schoolhouse costs is the cost per pupil. Thus, if one 
schoolhouse costs $60,000 and another costs $80,000, 
and each building has accommodations for 400 pupils, 
it is clear that the cost per pupil in the first building is 
$150, and in the second building, $200. It may well 
be, however, that the additional cost in the more 
expensive building is caused by the improved accommo- 
dations which that building furnishes. Both buildings 
may have 10 class rooms, but the more expensive build- 
ing may have in addition an auditorium, a gymnasium, 
a boys' playroom, a girls' playroom and a nurse's room. 
The illustration makes it clear that the cost per pupil 
is not a satisfactory unit of comparison, unless it be 
further explained by specifying the accommodations 
provided for each pupil. 

Cost Per Class Room. 
The class room is often taken as a unit of comparison, 
but as such it has all the shortcomings mentioned 
in the case of the unit based on the cost per pupil. In 
addition, the class rooms may be small, accommodating 
only about 35 pupils each, or they may be large and 
accommodate about 50 pupils each. Moreover, some 
cities accommodate more pupils than do others in class 
rooms of the same dimensions. 

Cost Per Cubic Foot. 
Among school architects the cost per cubic foot is 
often taken as the unit for comparative cost data. 



186 City Document No. 87. 

In general the number of cubic feet in a school building 
is arrived at by multiplying the ground area of the 
building by the distance from the lowest part of the 
basement floor to the average height of the roof, "there 
are, however, many variations in the method of com- 
puting the number of cubic feet, and there is no uniform 
practice among school architects in different cities. 
For this reason the cost per cubic foot is not an entirely 
satisfactory unit, except when used for buildings of 
similar construction and computed by precisely uni- 
form methods. 

Administration of Schoolhouse Construction. 

Departments of education have different administra- 
tive arrangements for taking care of schoolhouse con- 
struction. In many cities architects are chosen for each 
building on the basis of a competition which any archi- 
tect may enter. This method is seldom followed in the 
larger cities because it has been found to result in a most 
undesirable diversity of plans and equipment. A more 
satisfactory plan is for a city to select a reliable firm of 
competent architects and to make a contract with them 
covering a term of years and by which the firm prepares 
plans for all schoolhouses for a stipulated percentage of 
the value of the construction undertaken. This method 
is at present successfully employed in many large cities. 
Many other cities have found it still more satisfactory 
to employ a schoolhouse architect as a regular member 
of the permanent staff of the Department of Education 
and to employ as assistants as many engineers, draughts- 
men and inspectors as the building work of the school 
department may necessitate. 

The City of Boston employs no one of these methods, 
but has instead a device which is unique among American 
cities. The Board of Education does not construct its 
school buildings either through its own force or through 
employed architects. Instead there is a Schoolhouse 
Commission, consisting of three members appointed by 
the Mayor, to take charge of all repairs and replacements 
in old buildings and to purchase sites and construct all 
new school buildings. The School Board indicates the 
new accommodations which it desires to secure, and, if the 
money is available, the Schoolhouse Commission secures 
plans for the desired buildings and supervises their con- 
struction. These plans are made by private architects 
employed by the commission, who receive for their work 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 187 

six per cent of the cost of the building itself and two and 
two fifths per cent of the cost of the heating, electrical, 
and some other similar equipment which is designated 
as domestic engineering. Both the commission and the 
architects employ inspectors of construction. 

Cost of School Buildings in Boston. 

The foregoing explanation concerning computations 
of building cost and methods followed in different cities 
in the construction of schools has been made in order 
to make clearer some of the methods followed in the 
present report in endeavoring to arrive at a just estimate 
of the degree of efficiency and economy maintaining in 
the planning and construction of Boston's schoolhouses. 
In the endeavor to find out how this work as done in 
Boston compares with that done by other progressive 
cities, data have been secured covering recent operations 
in schoolhouse construction in Cleveland, Detroit, 
Newark and St. Louis. These data have been com- 
pared with each other and with similar data for Boston 
schools. The data for the four other cities were secured 
through the courteous cooperation of the architectural 
and educational authorities of those municipalities. 
Each city has supplied data for from seven to eleven 
recently constructed elementary school buildings of first- 
class fireproof construction. The data supplied and 
used in this report are the following: 

1. Name of building. 

2. Date of construction. 

3. Number of regular class rooms. 

4. Cubic feet of building as computed by architect. 

5. Number of square feet of pure class room space. 

6. List of the special rooms not included in the computation 

of pure class room space. 

7. The cost of building without lot or furniture, but including 

the cost of the plans, specifications and inspection service. 

8. The cost of plans, specifications and inspection service. 

9. A statement of the practice of the city in the matter of 

administering schoolhouse construction. 

In the case of Boston the corresponding data have 
been secured through visitation of school buildings, 
from the records of the Schoolhouse Commission, and 
from the data on file in the office of the Business Agent 
of the School Board. Tables 1 and 2 present the data 
for the Boston buildings. 



188 



City Document No. 87. 







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190 



City Document No. 87. 



They cover nine fireproof and ten non-fireproof ele- 
mentary school buildings of recent construction. The 
number of special rooms includes such rooms as audi- 
toriums, gymnasiums, playrooms, nurse's room, teachers 
rooms, libraries, and so forth. It does nat include the 
principal's office and reception rooni, storerooms, book 
rooms, janitors' rooms, or such portions of the build- 
ing as toilets, halls, wardrobes and stairways. The 
endeavor has been to list as special rooms those rooms, 
other than class rooms, which possess a direct educa- 
tional value for the children, and to omit parts of the 
building which are necessary for administrative pur- 
poses, but which must be included in every modern 
school building. The rooms counted as special rooms 
are listed in List A and List B. 

Under the new requirements of the building law, 
Boston will construct only fireproof buildings in the 
future. During the past few years, however, the School- 
house Commission has built many small, expensive, 
non-fireproof schools of second-class construction. 



LIST A. SPECIAL ROOMS IN NINE FIRST=CLASS FIREPROOF 
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BUILDINGS IN BOSTON. 



Patrick Collins 


Assembly hall, 2 playrooms, domestic science, 




manual training — total 5. 


Edward Everett 


Auditorium, 2 playrooms, nurse's room, cooking 
room, manual training, teacher room — total 

7. 


Nathan Hale 


Two playrooms, nurse's room, teacher room — 




total 4. 


John Cheverus 


Assembly hall, 2 playrooms, nurse's room, 




cooking room, manual training, teacher room 
— total 7. 


Peter Faneuil 


Two playrooms, manual training, teacher room 




— total 4. 


William L. Garrison .... 


Nurse's room, teacher room — total 2. 


Samuel Adams 


Assembly hall, 2 playrooms, nurse's room, 




cooking room, manual training, teacher room 
— total 7. 


Lafayette 


Two playrooms, nurse's room, teacher room — 


Abraham Lincoln 


total 4. 

Assembly hall, 2 playrooms, nurse's room, 
cooking room, manual training, 2 teacher 
rooms — total 8. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



191 



LIST B. SPECIAL ROOMS IN TEN SECOND=CLASS NON= 
FIREPROOF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BUILDINGS IN 
BOSTON. 



John Winthrop 


Assembly hall, 2 
room, cooking 
room — total 


playrooms, nurse's room, rest 




room, manual training, teacher 

8. 


Edmund Tileston 


Assembly hall, 2 playrooms, nurse's room, 
cooking room, manual training, 2 teacher 
rooms — total 8. 


Ulysses S. Grant 


Assembly hall, 
cooking room, 
— total 7. 


2 playrooms, nurse's room, 
manual training, teacher room 


Lewis 


Assembly hall, 
cooking room, 
— total 7. 


2 playrooms, nurse's room, 
manual training, teacher room 




Ellen Richards 


Two playrooms, 
total 4. 


nurse's room, teacher room — 






Mozart 


Two playrooms, 
total 4. 


nurse's room, teacher room — 






Martha Baker .• . . . 


Two playrooms, 
total 4. 


nurse's room, teacher room — 






John Wilhams 


Two playrooms, 
— total 5. 


nurse's room, 2 teacher rooms 






John PhUbrick 


Assembly hall, 
teacher room - 


2 playrooms, nurse's room, 
— total 5. 




Nightingale 


Nurse's room, te 


icher room — total 2. 







The number of pupils in each building, as shown by 
the table, is not the number of fixed seats in the class 
rooms, but rather a number arrived at by allowing 18 
square feet of pure class room space for each pupil. 
The cost of the building has been arrived at by taking 
the SchooLhouse Commission's figure covering the entire 
construction expense and increasing it by 10 per cent in 
order to cover the fees received by the architects and 
those administrative expenses of the Schoolhouse Com- 
mission which may properly be charged against the 
construction of new buildings. 

It is believed that this figure of 10 per cent is a most 
conservative one. The buildings entering into the 
comparison were constructed in the years 1907 to 1914. 
During the major part of the period the commission has 
been paying its architects 6 per cent on the cost of build- 



192 City Document No. 87. 

ing construction and 3 per cent on the cost of domestic 
engineering. Meanwhile the expenses of the commis- 
sion, given in its annual reports as expenses pertaining 
to administration and incidentals, have amounted to 
13.9 per cent of the expenditure on repairs and replace- 
ments, and 3.9 per cent of the expenditure for new sites 
and for erecting new buildings. Since the commission 
has been charging the salaries of its members entirely 
against the account for repairs and replacements, 
whereas much of its work has been directed toward the 
erection of new buildings, it is clear that the figure for 
administrative expenses in connection with new con- 
struction is too low. During part of the period the 
architects emploj'ed b}^ the commission have been 
receiving 5 per cent for their work on the building itself, 
and 2.5 per cent for domestic engineering. During the 
rest of the period they have received G per cent on the 
building and 3 per cent on the engineering. A careful 
computation indicates that the average commission 
paid to the architects on all these buildings amounts 
to about 5.4 per cent. If the administrative expense 
of the commission in the matter of new construction is 
as much as 4.6 per cent, it is clear that Boston is paying 
for architectural and inspection service no less than 10 
per cent on the cost of each new building. The figures 
cited indicate that this is a most conservative estimate. 
In all matters, except this one of arriving at the expense 
for plans, specifications and inspection, precisely the 
same procedure has been followed in compiling the 
comparative data for the four other cities as has been 
followed in the case of Boston buildings. 

Cost Data for Cleveland, Detroit, Newark and 

St. Louis. 

Tables 3, 4, 5 and 6 present data for recenth^ con- 
structed fireproof elementary school buildings in Cleve- 
land, Detroit, Newark and St. Louis. Lists C, D, E 
and F give the special rooms enumerated for each one 
of the buildings in each one of the cities. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



193 



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Report on Boston Public Schools. 



197 



LIST C. SPECIAL ROOMS IN ELEVEN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 
BUILDINGS IN CLEVELAND. 



Eagle 


Auditorium, gymnasium, 3 playrooms, shower, 
dispensary, 2 rest rooms, open-air cot room, 
library, domestic science, housekeeping suite 
(4 rooms), manual training, teacher lunch, 
kitchenette, elevator — total 20. 

Auditorium, gymnasium, 2 playrooms, dis- 
pensary, 2 rest rooms — total 7. 

Auditorium, gymnasium, 2 playrooms, shower, 


Mt. Pleasant 


Dawning 


Chesterfield 


dispensary, 2 rest rooms — total 8. 

Auditorium, gymnasium, 2 playrooms, shower, 
dispensary, 2 rest rooms — total 8. 

Auditorium, gymnasium, natatorium, 2 locker 


Kennard 


East Boulevard 

Addison 


and shower rooms, dispensary, 2 rest rooms, 
room for blind, domestic science, sewing 
room, manual training, teacher lunch, kitchen- 
ette — total 14. 

Auditorium, 2 playrooms, dispensary, 2 rest 
rooms, manual training, teacher lunch, 
kitchenette — total 9. 

Auditorium, gymnasium, handball court, dis- 
pensary, 2 rest rooms, teacher lunch, kitchen- 
ette, 4 unassigned — total 12. 

Auditorium, 2 gymnasiums, natatorium, dis- 
pensary, 2 rest rooms, domestic science > 
manual training, teacher lunch, kitchenette, 
unassigned — total 12. 

Auditorium, 2 gymnasiums, natatorium, 2 
locker and shower rooms, dispensary, 2 rest 
rooms, domestic science, manual training, 
teacher lunch, kitchenette, unassigned — 
total 14. 

Two gymnasiums, natatorium, 2 locker and 
shower rooms, dispensary, sun room, warming 
room, 3 rest rooms, domestic science, 2 
kitchens, lunch room, housekeeping suite (5 
rooms), manual training, filter room, teacher 
lunch, elevator — ■ total 24. 

Auditorium, 2 gymnasiums, natatorium, 2 
locker and shower rooms, dispensary, 2 rest 
rooms, domestic science, manual training, 
filter room, teacher lunch, kitchenette — 
total 14. 


Empire 


Rawlings 


Murray Hill 


Almira 





198 



City Document No. 87. 



LIST D. SPECIAL ROOMS IN TEN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 
BUILDINGS IN DETROIT. 



Breitmeyer 


Playroom, clinic, rest^-room, waitin*'' room 




library, domestic science, manual training, 
recitation — total 7. 


Marxhausen 


Playroom, clinic, rest room, library, domestic 
science, manual training, recitation — total 7. 




Ellis 


Playroom, library, domestic science, manual 
training, recitation — total 5. 




Joyce 


Playroom, clinic, rest room, library, domestic 
science, manual training, recitation — total 7. 




Lingemann 


Playroom, clinic, rest room, library, domestic 
science, manual training, recitation — total 7. 




ThirkeU 


Playroom, clinic, rest room, library, domestic 
science, manual training, recitation — total 7. 




Albert Hely 


Playroom, clinic, rest room, library, domestic 
science, manual training, recitation — total 7. 




Hattie M. Carstens 


Playroom, clinic, library, domestic science, 
manual training, recitation, teacher room — 
total 7. 


Goldberg 


Playroom, 2 showers, cUnic, waiting room, 2 cot 
rooms, librarj', dining room, kitchen, domestic 
science, manual training, recitation — total 13. 




Theodore Harms 


Playroom, clinic, library, domestic science, 
manual training, recitation, teacher room — 
total 7. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



199 



LIST E. SPECIAL ROOMS IN NINE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 
BUILDINGS IN NEWARK. 



Lafayette 


Auditorium, gymnasium, physical instructor's 




room, doctor's room and waiting room, library, 
5 teacher rooms — total 10. 


Ridge 


Auditorium, gymnasium, physical instructor's 
room, doctor's room and waiting room, library, 
2 teacher rooms — total 7. 




Webster 


Auditorium, gymnasium, physical instructor's 
room, doctor's room and waiting room, library, 
3 teacher rooms — total 8. 




West Side 


Auditorium, doctor's room and waiting room, 3 




teacher rooms — total 6. 


Montgomery 


Auditorium, doctor's room and waiting room. 




library, 3 teacher rooms — total 6. 


Teshine 


Assembly room, doctor's room and waiting room, 
2 teacher rooms — total 5. 




Cleveland 


Auditorium, gymnasiiun, physical instructor's 
room, doctor's room and waiting room, 
library — total 5. 




MiUer 


Auditorium, gymnasium, physical instructor's 
room — total 3. 




Oliver 


Auditorium, physical instructor's room, doctor's 
room and waiting room, 2 teacher rooms — 
total 5. 





200 



City Document No. 87. 



LIST F. SPECIAL ROOMS IN SEVEN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 
BUILDINGS IN ST. LOUIS. 



Madison 

Harney Heights. . . 

Bryan Hill 

Delaney 

William Glasgow. , 

Laclede 

Bryan-Mullanphy 



2 gymnasiums, 2 playrooms, 2 shower rooms, 
medical inspection and rest room, kindergar- 
ten workrooms, 2 teacher rooms — total 10. 

Assembly room, 2 gj'mnasiums, 2 playrooms, 2 
shower rooms, medical inspection and rest 
room, kindergarten workrooms, teacher room 

— total 10. 

2 gjTnnasiums or assembly rooms, 2 plajTooms, 
shower room, medical inspection and rest 
room, kindergarten workrooms, teacher room 

— total 8. 

2 playrooms, teacher room — total 3. 

2 gj'mnasiums or assembly rooms, 2 plajTooms, 
2 shower rooms, medical inspection and rest 
room — total 7. 

2 play or assembly rooms, 2 shower rooms, medi- 
cal inspection and rest room, kindergarten 
workrooms — total 6. 

Assembly hall, 2 gymnasiums, 2 shower rooms, 
medical inspection, domestic science, manual 
training, kindergarten workrooms — total 9. 



Comparative Costs in the Five Cities. 

Table 7 is a summary table comparing the costs of 
the six groups of school buildings in the five cities. 



TABLE 7. 
Costs Data for 56 Elementary School Buildings in Five Cities. 



City. 



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Fireproof . . . . 

Newark. 

Fireproof . . . . 

Cleveland. 
Fireproof . . . . 

St. Louis. 

Fireproof . . . . 

Boston. 

Non-fireproof 

Boston. 

Fireproof . . . 



10 
9 

11 
7 

10 
9 



$4,972 
6,641 
7,765 
9,054 
7,117 
7,878 



$0 156 
196 
171 
193 
218 
256 



$125 


7.4 


$3,629 


156 


4.7 


5,232 


175 


13.5 


4,678 


209 


7.0 


6,584 


201 


9.6 


4,931 


210 


6.2 


6.012 



4.76 
4.76 
3.42 
3.96 
9.10 
9.10 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 201 

The contrasts revealed by it are interesting and 
significant. The average cost per class room ranges 
from less than $5,000 in Detroit to more than $9,000 in 
St. Louis; the cost per cubic foot from a little over 15 
cents in Detroit to more than 25 cents in Boston; the 
average cost per pupil from $125 in Detroit to $210 in 
Boston. 

All the buildings have special rooms, but they vary 
greatly in number. In Newark there are on the average 
4.7 special rooms for each 20 regular class rooms, while 
in Cleveland there are 13.5 special rooms for each 20 
regular class rooms. The Boston figures lie between 
these two extremes. These figures for the special rooms 
are most significant, not only from a financial point of 
view but also from an educational one. The child 
attending school in the typical Cleveland building may 
be said to have his share of a room and two thirds, 
whereas the Boston child has his share of a room and a 
third, and the one in Newark has a share in less than a 
room and a quarter. Moreover, these figures fail to 
give an adequate idea of the educational importance of 
the situation, for where special rooms are found in 
ample numbers, as in Cleveland, they include such 
accommodations as auditoriums, gymnasiums, swimming 
pools, lunch rooms and libraries. On the other hand, 
where special rooms exist in small numbers, they are 
apt to be hmited to such accommodations as two base- 
ment playrooms, a teachers' rest room and a recitation 
room. 

Moreover, the special rooms vary enormously in size, 
in cost and in value. For example, the auditorium may 
be merely a large room with a high platform at one end 
and with the view somewhat seriously obstructed by 
supporting columns. It may, on the other hand, be of 
the most modern construction with the floor slanted 
like that of the theater, with the view entirely unob- 
structed, and the stage equipped with waiting rooms, 
footlights and scenery so that it may be effectively used 
for dramatic presentations. 

If we balance off the large special rooms against the 
small rooms and the expensive rooms against the cheaper 
ones, we will do slight injustice to any city by combining 
all the special rooms and all the class rooms and com- 
puting a new figure showing the cost per room, includ- 
ing special and regular rooms together. This figure has 
been computed for all cities and appears in the sixth 
column of Table 7. 



202 



City Document No. 87. 



In the last column of the same table are figures show- 
ing the proportion which the expense for plans, specifi- 
cations and inspection bears in each city to the entire 
cost of the school buildings. The reason why the figures 
for Boston is 9.1 rather than 10 is that the cost for these 
services has- been computed as 10 per cent of the con- 
struction costs. The two figures have, then, been 
added to represent the whole cost of the completed 
building and the amount assigned for architects and 
inspectors services has then been computed as a per- 
centage of this new base. These figures show the cost 
of plans, specifications and inspection and have a range 
from 3.42 per cent of the building cost in Cleveland to 
9.1 per cent in Boston. 

The Rank of the Cities in Schoolhouse Cost. 

Table 8 is a summary table showing how the six 
groups of school buildings rank in the matter of each 
one of the six items of cost which have been compared. 
Thus, the first column shows that Detroit, which is 
given the rank of one, has the lowest average cost per 
class room. 

TABLE 8. 

Rank of Each of Six Groups of Elementary School Buildings in 
Five Cities in Six Items of Comparative Cost Data. 





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3 

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1 

2 
4 


3 
1 
4 


10 




13 


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22 


Boston. 






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4 


2 


3 


6 


23 




6 


3 


5 


4 


6 


2 


26 


Boston. 




Fireproof 


'5 


6 


6 


5 


5 


5 


32 







The same city has the lowest average cost per cubic 
foot and per pupil. It is again found in the first rank 
in the average cost per room when we lump special and 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 203 

class rooms together. It ranks in third place in the 
proportion of special rooms found in its school buildings 
and in the expense for plans, specifications and inspec- 
tion. If we add all these ranks we have a total of 
10, which appears in the last column of the table. By 
similar methods the ranks for all the six groups of 
buildings for the five cities have been ascertained and 
their totals have been noted. These totals indicate that, 
on the basis of these six sources of cost comparisons, 
the Detroit schools are the least expensive of those 
entering into this comparison and the fireproof schools 
of Boston are the most expensive. Boston ranks in 
either the last place or in next to the last place in every 
one of the comparisons. 

In the matter of non-fireproof buildings the figures 
show that Boston does not spend on the average quite 
so much per unit of accommodation as St. Louis does for 
fireproof buildings. If we make the comparison merely 
with the other cities it is clear that Boston has been 
spending more for second-class non-fireproof buildings 
than Cleveland, Detroit and Newark for first-class 
fireproof buildings. Moreover, it must be remembered 
in all these comparisons that nearly all the figures 
for other cities pertain to schools erected more recently 
than the Boston schools for which it has been possible 
to obtain data. Since the cost of construction has been 
steadily rising during the past few years, this is another 
factor which should be extremely favorable to Boston 
in the matter of these comparisons. 

School Costs and School Values. 

In the opinion of the committee, Boston is not receiv- 
ing adequate educational returns for its investments in 
new school buildings. The city pays more and the child 
receives less than in other progressive cities. In some 
measure this has been true for several years past, and 
it appears that, under the present policies of the School- 
house Commission, conditions are becoming compara- 
tively worse rather than better. 

The Schoolhouse Department states in its latest 
report, for 1915, that it offers the new Wells District 
School as a type of the new fireproof buildings now 
being constructed. It states that the cost of this 
building will amount to $159.50 per child. This figure 
does not include the costs of plans, specifications and 



204 City Document No. 87. 

inspection which have been sliown to amount to approxi- 
mately 10 per cent of tlie construction cost. If we add 
§15.95 to cover these items, we have a cost per pupil of 
8175.45. 

But this cost is figured on the basis of 15 square feet 
of class room area for each pupil, whereas the costs for 
all other cities entering into comparsion in this report 
are based on 18 square feet per pupil. If we make the 
corresponding calculation for Boston's new Wells District 
School, we have a cost of 8210.54 per pupil. It is now 
worth while to note what the Boston children receive 
for this expenditure in comparison with the acconnnoda- 
tions provided in other cities for less expense. 

"We may well choose for this comparison the new 
INIurray Hill building in Cleveland and the Aladison 
building in St. Louis. When the costs of the three 
schools are figured on the same basis, it is found that the 
expense per pupil in the Boston school is 8210, in the 
Cleveland building it is 8100, and in the St. Louis one 
it is 8178. The committee is confident that no one con- 
versant with the facts can validlj'' claim that the quality 
of construction in the Cleveland and St. Louis buildings 
is not fully equal to that found in the new Boston build- 
ings. The accommodations provided in the three 
buildings are placed in parallel comparison in the lists 
on page 206, and an inspection of the data of this report 
will show that equally impressive comparisons will be 
made if other schools are substituted for those chosen 
for this comparison. 

In the case of all three schools the accommodations 
listed are those considered as having a direct educational 
value for the children and such other portions of the 
buildings as ofhces, storerooms, toilets, corridors, etc., 
have been omitted from the comparison. 

In the opinion of the committee, the fact that the 
Schoolhouse Department expressly states that it offers 
the Wells District School as a type of the new fireproof 
buildings to be erected in Boston should arouse the 
citizens and teachers of the city to protest. As compared 
with the most advanced practice of progressive school 
systems, such plans as those of the Wells District 
building are based on pre-modern ideals of education. 
The city is paying a price which should be sufhcient 
to purchase the very best educational accommodations. 
The children are being provided with educational plants 
of better construction than those built a generation ago, 
but far inferior to those of other cities where the educa- 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



205 



tional authorities direct the planning of schoolhouses, 
and architectural developmentw are shaped by educa- 
ti(Hial progress. 



Boston. 


St. Louis. 


Cleveland. 


Wells District School. 


Madison School. 


Murray Hill School. 


$210 per pupil. 


$178 per pupil. 


$190 per pupil. 


]<^irst-clas8 fireproof. 


First-class hreproof. 


First-class fireproof. 


4 stories. 


3 stories. 


3 stories. 


24 class rooms. 


20 class rooms. 


28 class rooms. 


2 playrooms. 


2 play rooms. 


Hoys' gymnasium. 


Auditorium. 


JJoys' Kyirinasium. 


Girls' Kymnasium. 


3 teachers' rooms. 


Girls' gymnasium. 


Swimming pool. 


Nurse's room. 


JJoys' shower room. 


Boys' locker and shower. 




Girls' shower room. 


Girls' locker and shower. 




2 teachers' roonis. 


Dispensary and reception. 




Medical inspection and rest 


Sun room for open air classes. 
Warniing and locker room for 




room. 




Kindergarten work and store- 


open air classes. 




rooms. 


■i teacliers' rooms. 
Domestic science. 
Manual training. 
2 kitchens. 
Filter room. 
TeaclKiis' lunch room . 
Pupils' lunch room. 
Housekeeping suite: 

Living room. 

Bed room. 

Dining room. 

Kitchen. 

Laundry. 
Elevator for open air. 



Modernization of Old Buildings. 

Probably no other city in America faces so serious a 
problem as does Boston in the task of modernizing its 
old school buildings. The city has very many very old 
schools. At the present time the permanent buildings 
in use are some 263 in number. Fifty-nine schools, or 
nearly one quarter of all, are more than 50 years old. 
One hundred and twenty-six buildings, or practically 
half of them, are more than 30 years old. The dates of 
erection are presented in Table 9. 

When old buildings are used for school purposes a 
consistent policy for modernization, annual expendi- 
tures of generous size, and unremittingly intelligent 
effort are essential, if the welfare of the children is to 
be safeguarded. Stairs must be straightened and fire- 
proofed, new provisions made for adequate lighting, 
fire escapes installed, furnace rooms protected, toilet 
arrangements replaced, floors renewed, old plaster black- 
boards replaced by slate, and scores of minor matters 
looked after. 

Boston has spent much money on this work, but 
vastly more needs to be done. Many unnecessary fire 
and panic hazards remain in the schools. The School- 



206 



City Document No. 87. 



house Department states in its report for 1914 that it 
is firmly of the opinion that there is httle danger from 
fire for the children in the schools of Boston. The com- 
mittee is firmly of the opinion that there are no adequate 
grounds for the complacent optimism of the depart- 
ment in this matter. Most of the schools are of non- 
fireproof construction. Many are without fire escapes. 
Crooked wooden stairs abound. Many basements are 
not fireproofed. 



TABLE 9. — Date of Erection of Boston Schoolhouses Now in Use. 



v„„_ Number of 


v~„. Number of 
Year. Buildings. 


Year. Buildings. 


1800 1 


1877 2 


1823 . 








1 


1879 










1 


1824 . 








2 


1880 










6 


1838 . 








1 


1882 










3 


1840 . 








1 


1883 










2 


1842 . 








1 


1884 










5 


1843 . 








1 


1885 










2 


1845 . 








2 


1886 










2 


1846 . 








1 


1887 










3 


1847 . 








6 


1889 










2 


1848 . 








1 


1890 










1 


1849 . 








3 


1891 










4 


1850 . 








2 


1892 










9 


1851 . 








1 


1893 










4 


1852 . 








3 


1894 










2 


1855 . 








4 


1895 










11 


1856 . 








6 


1896 










9 


1857 . 








5 


1897 










6 


1858 . 








1 


1898 










5 


1859 . 








3 


1899 










4 


1860 . 








1 


1900 










3 


1861 . 








5 


1901 










11 


1862 . 








3 


1902 










1 


1863 . 








1 


1903 










3 


1864 . 








2 


1904 










8 


1865 . 








1 


1905 










9 


1866 . 








1 


1906 










2 


1867 . 








4 


1907 










5 


1868 . 








4 


1909 










3 


1869 . 








4 


1910 










5 


1870 . 








8 


1911 










7 


1871 . 








6 


1912 










5 


1872 . 








4 


1913 










6 


1873 . 








2 


1914 










5 


1874 . 








7 


1915 










1 


1875 . 








3 




1876 . 








3 


Total . . . .263 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 207 

On the educational side much needs to be done in 
order to make the schools conform to modern standards. 
Many of the rooms are equipped with old plaster black- 
boards placed at such heights that the smaller children 
cannot easily write on them. They should be replaced 
by slate boards properly located. Platforms for the 
teacher's desk and chair are still retained in Boston, 
although long ago banished in other progressive cities. 
In many cases lighting could be greatly improved by 
carefully planned alterations. 

During the past few years expenditures for repairs 
and replacements on old buildings have cost from a 
third of a million to more than a half of a million dollars 
each year. Nevertheless, conditions in the old build- 
ings do not compare at all favorably with those found 
in other progressive cities, and the committee is unable 
to state that the Schoolhouse Department has at present 
any well formulated, continuing policy for the progres- 
sive modernization of old buildings. 

The annual reports of the department tell of work 
done each year. Inspections of the buildings themselves 
show so much that imperatively needs doing that the 
observer who is conversant with accomplishments in 
other cities cannot be greatly impressed by contemplat- 
ing what has already been accomplished in the old build- 
ings of Boston. A request made of the Schoolhouse 
Commission that they make a statement regarding their 
policy in the matter of modernizing old buildings was 
met by a refusal to give any information at all on the 
subject.* 

Reports on Work Accomplished. 

The Schoolhouse Department publishes a report 
annually for the year ending February 1. This report 
tells of the w^ork done during the year in erecting new 
buildings and in making repairs on old ones. It also 
presents data for the entire school plant showing the 
number of buildings in use and such facts concerning 
them as the date of erection, number of rooms, cost, etc. 

After a careful study of the most recent reports, the 
committee has found it i,mpossible to secure from them 
adequate and accurate information concerning the work 
and expenditure of the department. In the earlier years 
of the existence of the Schoolhouse Commission the 
annual reports contained several noteworthy contribu- 
tions on such important subjects as lighting, heating, 

* See page 4. 



208 City Document No. 87. 

ventilating, standards of construction, etc. The most 
recent reports do not contain material of this sort nor 
do they account in any adequate wa^ for funds expended 
or results achieved. 

The Schoolhouse Department purchases sites for 
buildings without the educational authorities having 
control over the choice of locations, but makes no 
published report as to the extent and nature of the 
real estate transactions. Each year the department 
describes new work under way by districts, but when the 
schools are finished they are given names differing from 
the district names and the data on cost appear in the 
annually published tables under these new headings. 
This practice makes it impossible to check the reports 
of work from year to year without securing the assistance 
of someone intimately conversant with the two sets of 
information. Data on costs are published in tables in 
each report, but these are so inaccurate that in many 
instances items of cost on the same building are at one 
figure in one place in the report and at another in 
another place. 

For example, in the current report for 1915 the cost per 
cubic foot of the William Lloyd Garrison school appears 
as 27 cents in the descriptive schedule of buildings, and 
as 24 cents in the table of costs. Similarly, the figure 
for the Samuel Adams School is 23 cents in one place 
and 22 cents in the other. For the John Cheverus 
School the total cost is given as both $102,706.35 and 
$102,076.35. For the same building the cubiture is 
given in one place as 535,474 and as 535,458 in another. 
When asked to produce information directly from its 
original accounts in order to show precisely what the 
costs really were, the commission refused to do so.* 

For several years the Schoolhouse Department has 
been publishing figures purporting to show that it has 
been supplying Boston with schoolhouse accommoda- 
tions at a most reasonable rate. The annual reports 
indicated that the Boston buildings cost less per class 
room and less per pupil than the schools of other large 
cities. The committee finds that these apparently 
favorable showings have been produced by the methods 
used in presenting the figures and that they are not in 
accord with the true conditions. 

Three factors have been largely responsible for making 
the Boston schoolhouses look cheap in the annual reports. 

* See page 4. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 209 

In the first place, the figures purporting to give the total 
cost of the buildings have not included the very large 
expenditures for plans, specifications and inspection. 
In the second place, the Schoolhouse Department has 
omitted from its statement of the cost of each building 
any item for administrative expense for its own support. 
This item is a heavy one. In the third place, the depart- 
ment has been building very small schoolrooms, which 
has kept down the cost per room, and has allotted to 
them large numbers of pupils, which has kept down the 
cost per pupil. The rooms have measured 29 by 23 feet, 
and 15 square feet of floor area have been allotted to 
each pupil. The point here made is not that these 
standards are undesirable, but that they do not furnish 
a ^jalid basis for comparing costs with other cities build- 
ing larger" rooms and allotting more square feet per pupil. 

After taking into consideration all these conditions, 
the committee arrived at the conclusion that the building 
costs stated by the Schoolhouse Department must be 
increased by 10 per cent to arrive at the true cost of the 
building plus the plans, specifications, inspection and 
service by the Schoolhouse Department. The cost per 
pupil as figured by the department must be increased by 
20 per cent to make it comparable with the figures used 
in other cities which allow 18 square feet per child 
instead of 15 square feet in computing per capita costs. 

These two factors in combination make a total of 
32 per cent which must be added to the official Boston 
figures in order to arrive at a cost statement comparable 
with that for other cities. 

It seems probable to the committee that an accurate 
cost accounting would show that the figure for expense 
of the department, properly chargeable against each new 
building, is in reality even larger than has been indicated. 
It has been impossible to avoid some estimating on this 
point for the department has been charging the salaries 
of the commissioners and clerks against repairs and 
replacements and not against the accounts for new 
buildings. This seems to be true also of a large share of 
the rest of the administrative expense of the office. 

When asked to furnish data on the expense of plans, 
specifications and inspection for certain specified build- 
ings, the commission refused to give any information in 
the matter.* 

The committee is unanimously of the opinion that its 

* See page 4. 



210 City Document No. 87. 

estimates of the actual costs of the Boston school build- 
ings should not be considered too high until all the facts 
in the case have been secured through a thorough audit 
of the books of the Schoolliouse Department. 

The Schoolhouse Commission not a Civic or 
Educational Necessity. 

The committee is convinced that the estabhshment of 
the Schoolhouse Department, administered by the 
independent Schoolhouse Commission, has not made for 
economy, efficiency, or for the best interests of public 
education. It appears that the establishment of the 
commission was due to the belief that the interests of 
education would be safeguarded by taking away from 
the School Committee the duty and responsibility of 
purchasing sites and erecting buildings. It was felt 
that these matters, involving the expenditure of great 
sums of money, would better be placed in other hands, 
thus leaving the School Committee free to deal exclu- 
sively with purely educational problems. 

This decision overlooked the fundamental truth that 
the locating, planning and constructing of school 
buildings are educational problems fully as truly as they 
are financial, architectural and engineering problems. 
Here as elsewhere in the administering of public educa- 
tion experience has demonstrated that every educational 
problem is a financial one and every financial problem is 
an educational one. In other cities throughout the 
country experience is amply demonstrating that the 
educational authorities, whose business it is to provide 
for the training of all the children, are the ones who learn 
to know most accurately and certainly just where school 
buildings should be erected, which locations are most 
desirable, what types of buildings are needed, and how 
many and what kinds of accommodations they should 
provide. 

The duty of providing these accommodations must be 
delegated, but the results can never be satisfactory^ if 
the department to which the delegation is made is 
independent of the educational department. The cities 
which are receiving the best educational returns on their 
expenditures for school buildings are those cities which 
have well-planned architectural divisions as regular 
parts of their permanent organizations. A small city, 
or one which is not increasing rapidly in population, 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 211 

may find it desirable and economical to arrange for the 
construction of buildings through securing the services 
of a private firm of architects of proved ability in 
schoolhouse construction. On the other hand, experience 
demonstrates that in municipalities where many new 
school buildings must be erected from year to year, the 
best results are obtained through an arrangement by 
which the educational authorities directly control the 
provision for increasing the educational accommodations. 



212 City Document No. 87. 



CHAPTER IX.— SUBSIDIARY MATTERS. 



Referring now to the outline of inquiry, 1, 2, 6 and 8 
and parts of 3 and 5 have received detailed treatment 
in the preceding- chapters. No. 7 has already received 
such full and adequate treatment by the Finance Com- 
mission that the committee desires merely to indorse the 
findings of the commission in the matter of paying city 
employees by cheques, and to say that they know of no 
large city, except Boston, in which city employees are 
paid by a plan so time-wasting as the one which the 
Finance Commission has disapproved. 

3. (rt.) The Proper A^umher of Pupils to a Teacher. — 
No absolute rule can be laid down upon this subject. 
Reference to chapter VII., Tables 9 and 10, * demon- 
strates the fact that in the Boston schools, both high and 
elementary, the quota of pupils per teacher averages 
higher than in representative cities of its population class. 
Only three in the table, Cleveland, Jersey City and 
St. Louis, have larger classes in their elementary schools, 
and only one, San Francisco, in high schools. In this list 
of twenty-one cities Boston's rank with respect to the 
number of pupils per teacher in elementary schools is 18; 
in high schools its rank is 20. 

In School Document No. 12, 1915, page 19, a com- 
putation made on a different basis shows that in Boston 
elementary schools the average number of pupils per 
teacher has dropped from 51.5 in 1899 to 42.9 in 1915; 
while during the same period the average number of 
pupils per teacher in high and Latin schools has risen 
from 28.4 to 31. 2. 

According to the Rules and Regulations the standard 
class in elementary grades numbers 44. Many cities 
have actually reduced the number below this standard, 
and the tendency the country over is toward a smallet 
number of children per teacher than Boston's present 
rules suggest. It must be remembered that in the 
tables to which reference has been made, special classes 
ranging from 15 to 30 pupils each, of which Boston has 
a considerable number, are counted with the regular 

* Pages 171 and 173. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 213 

classes in arriving at the average number of pupils 
per teacher. On September 30, 1915, according to a 
statement prepared in the office of the Superintendent, 
there were 709 classes out of a total of 2,070 in the 
elementary schools, exclusive of kindergartens, in which 
there were more than 44 children. In 102 classes 
there were from 50 to 54 children; in 20 classes there 
were from 55 to 59 children, and in 44 classes there were 
more than 60 children. 

Under present rules a special assistant may be ap- 
pointed in Grade I when the number of pupils exceeds 
50, in Grades II to VIII when the number exceeds 60. 

Even if we assume that all classes above 60 were 
provided with a special assistant and that those ranging 
from 50 to 59 were of Grade I and were provided with 
special assistants, a fact which the table does not dis- 
close, there must have been 543 classes in which the 
number of children was in excess of the regular quota. 
In other words, one class of every four was too large, 
even when measured by Boston's over-large standard. 
Further effort should be made to keep classes down at 
least to the number prescribed in the rules. 

3. (6.) The Lengthening of the School Year. — This 
question requires further study and experimentation 
before a valid answer can be given. Newark, New 
Jersey, is the only city in the United States that main- 
tains the all-year school, and this only in three build- 
ings. The results are said to justify the continuance 
of the plan. 

In the opinion of the committee there can be no 
question of the desirability of summer schools, both 
high and elementary, for pupils who need to review 
and also for those who wish to gain special promotion. 
This is equivalent to lengthening the school year for 
pupils who desire to avail themselves of the opportu- 
nities offered. 

4. The Elimination of Extra Pay to Teachers for 
Service in Vacation Schools and Other Offices with Extra 
Pay for Persons Employed on Annual Salaries. — In so 
far as this question applies to regular teachers who also 
serve in the vacation schools, it is obvious that since 
but comparatively few teachers are required in the 
vacation schools, those who thus serve should receive 
more compensation than is allowed those who teach 
only from September 1 to June 30. Whether this 
extra compensation is included in the annual salary 



214 City Document No. 87. 

contract or in a separate contract seems immaterial. 
The regular salary schedule is understood to call for 
ten months of actual service, ^vllether the salary is 
paid in ten installments or in twelve. If the salary 
schedule were liberal enough to cover work in the 
vacation school as well as that done in~ regular term time, 
there could be no objection to an interpretation which 
would require twelve nionths' work, but on that inter- 
pretation none should be excused. To require sununer 
work of some and not of others who receive the same 
salary would obviously amount to unjust discrimination. 
To regard as "extra pay" the compensation given to 
some teachers for services which other teachers on the 
same Siilary schedule are not required to perform can 
hardly be reconciled with the actual facts. 

5. The Adrisahility of Reducing the Common School 
Course to Seven Years. — The committee recommends 
the adoption of the six-three-three plan under which the 
elementary school course would be reduced to six 3'ears. 
See Chapter III, page 36. 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 215 



APJ»ENJ)1X. 



Methods of Computing Expenditures for School 

Purposes Per Pupil in Average 

Daily Attendance. 



As is stated in the body of the report, most of the data 
used in the comparative study are from the reports of 
the United States Commissioner of Education. Other 
sources of information have been referred to in foot- 
notes to tables and, in some instances, in the text. 
Mention has been made in the text of possible hmita- 
tions of the availah)le data, and the effect of inaccuracies 
and of variations in classification upon the comparative 
statistics has been considered. 

In order to make the figures for the different cities 
comparable, expenditures for school purposes have been 
stated in terms of population, of wealth and of school 
attendance. It seems unnecessary to discuss further the 
methods employed in computing expenditure per inhabi- 
tant and per $1,000 of wealth. The method of com- 
puting expenditure per pupil in average daily attendance, 
the ratio employed in most of the comparative tables, 
will be considered in the following paragraphs. 

It is not easy to secure from the Commissioner's 
reports figures which are strictly comparable and which 
at the same time constitute a complete record of the 
different school systems. In the present study the 
principal comparisons have been based on expenditures 
made by the different cities for schools of every type. 
The per capitas based on average daily attendance have 
been obtained, however, by dividing expenditure for 
all schools by the number of pupils attending kinder- 
gartens, elementary schools and high schools. 

This basis of computing per capitas is, in theory, 
imperfect. Its imperfection arises in part from the 
omission from the divisor of figures relative to attendance 
in evening and special schools, and in part from failure 



216 City Document No. 87. 

to take into account variations in the proportion of 
secondary school ])iipils in tlio ditTcrent cities. 

In tlie reporls of the United States Commissioner of 
Education for 1911 and 1912 complete and separate 
classilications of expenditures were ji;iven fo^: elemen- 
tary schools and for secondary schools, for evening; 
schools and for day schools. The only com]ilete classi- 
fication appearing- in the 1914 report relates to expendi- 
tures for all school purposes. There are tables dealing 
se]")arately with ex]ienditure for elementary schools and 
exp(Muli(ure for secondary schools, hut these do not 
include figures showing expenses of administration and 
supervision. Altliough the statistics of the most recent 
report are nominally less complete than the statistics 
for 1911 and for 1912, an examination of the earlier 
re])orts shows that comjilete information regarding all 
departn\ents of school work was secured for but a 
relatively small number of cities; hence the reduction 
in the scope of the presentation is not as much of a loss 
as might be thought. 

Sat isfactory information as to average attendance in 
special schools is not available. As the figures showing 
expenditure which have been used in the comparisons 
include expenses for schools of all types, while the num- 
bers representing ]nipils in average daily attendance, 
used as divisors in computing ratios, do not include 
])U[)ils attending special schools or evening schools, it is 
clear that all the per ca])itas obtained will be scunewhat 
larger than the ]hm- capitas that would have been obtained 
if all childiHMi had been considered, or if expenditure for 
jHipils in special schools and evening schools had been 
excluded. What is more important, the relationship 
between the figures for the difTerent cities is afTected by 
variations in the })roporlion of special school and even- 
ing school pupils in these cities. 

It has been seen, however, that separate data relative 
to expenditure for kindergartens, secondary schools and 
elementary schools and data relative to attendance in 
s]HH'ial schools are not available. JNloreover, per capitas 
obtained by dividing expenditure for all schools by the 
total number of children, including those in special and 
evening schools, might be less significant than the per 
cajntas (hat have been used. 

The possible effects of including special and evening 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 



217 



school pupils in tlio divisors used in computing per 
capitas irvay be illustrated by (';()nij)utati()ns based on 
the hypothetical figures of the following table: 





Pui'ii.H IN AvmuACiw Daily 
Attkndancio in 


EXPMNDITOUIO. 


CiTV. 


KindorKiirtons, 
lOloiiientiirv 
Scliools and 

Iligli Schools. 


EvoniiiK 

and 
Special 
Schools. 


All 
Solioola. 


I'-or All 

Solioola. 


Pwii Capita Based on 

I'Ul'ILB IN AVBHAQB 

Daily Attiondancd in 




KiiidorKartons, 
lOlonicntaiy 
Schools and 

High Schools. 


All 
SchoolB. 


A 


1,700 
1,900 


300 
100 


2,000 
2,000 


$50,000 
50,000 


$29 41 
20 32 


$25 00 


B 


25 00 







Cities A and B spend $50,000 each for all schools and 
the total number of children in average daily attendance 
in each city is 2, ()()(); hence the per capita expenditure, 
based on the total number of children, is $25 for (^ach 
city. Bid, in City A only 1,700 of the 2,000 children 
are in kindergartens, elementary and high schools, as 
compared with 1,900 in City B. If, employing the 
method which has been followed in computing the ratios 
used in tlu^ })res(5nt study, the total ex])en(liture of each 
city is dividcul by the nunibei- of pupils in regular schools, 
the^ resulting per capitas are $29.41 for City A and 
$2()'.32 for City B. Both of these per capitas are higher 
than the other })or (^a])itas mentioned. Moreover, the 
figures for A and for B diifei- rather widely, and, as the 
total expenditure and the total number of children are the 
same for both cities, it might seem that the ratios were 
less valid than those derived from expenditure for all 
schools and total attendance. 

It is a mistake, however, to assume that the ratios 
based on total expense and all children in attendance 
are valid and comparable figures. The point cannot be 
too strongly emphasized that if the per capita (ixi)endi- 
ture for rc^gular schools had been identical in ('ities 
A and B, and if the per capita expenditure for evening 
and special schools had likewise been identical, the 
aggregate expenditure for all schools, and the per capita 
based on all children and aggregate expenditure, would 



218 City Document No. 87. 

not have been the same for the two cities. A day's 
attendance in evening school is not by any means 
equivalent to a day's attendance in elementary school — 
the session is shorter and the necessary outlay is, there- 
fore, less. While data relative to the work of special 
schools are not available, it is probable that per capita 
expenditures exceed those for elementary schools, but 
the number of pupils in special schools is, in general, 
only a small fraction of the number in evening schools. 
Hence it is probable that the per capitas for evening 
and special schools combined are much lower than those 
for regular schools. 

Returning to the illustration: If in both cities the per 
capita expenditure for regular day schools was $25.50 
and the per capita for special and evening schools $15.50, 
the aggregate expenditure of City B would be $50,000, 
the figure appearing in the table, but the aggregate 
expenditure of City A would be $48,000. The per capi- 
tas based on all children and expenditure for all schools 
would be $25 for- City B and $24 for City A. It is clear 
that, even had the number of pupils in special and 
evening schools been included in the divisors, the ratios 
obtained would not have been strictly comparable. 

The foregoing figures are presented, not to prove the 
perfection of the methods of computing ratios employed 
in the present study, for this they do not do, but as an 
illustration of the difficulties encountered in seeking to 
compare the expense statistics of different cities. The 
difficulties that have been mentioned are not of a sort 
seriously to affect the results of the comparisons made 
in the text. It is to be noted that failure to take into 
account in computing ratios pupils attending special 
and evening schools tends to raise the per capitas for all 
cities — it does not raise the per capita for one city and 
lower that for another. For this reason and, as the pro- 
portion of special and evening school pupils and the 
proportion of the total expense devoted to their instruc- 
tion is, in all cities, relatively small, it seems certain 
that the position of Boston in the group of cities is 
not greatly influenced by the limitations of the statis- 
tical classification. 

Another factor which affects the comparability of the 
ratios is the variation in the proportion of pupils in 
secondary schools in the different cities. In all cities 
the per capita expenditure is higher for secondary school 
education than for elementary school education. Hence 



Report on Boston Public Schools. 219 

the fact tiuit a given city has a relatively high per capita 
expenditure for all school ])iir})()ses may mean merely 
that the proportion of secon(hiry school pu])ils in that 
city is exceptionally large. As has been stated, separate 
data as to the expenditure of elementary schools and of 
secondary schools for all school purposes, including 
general control, are not available. 

It would be easy to magnify the importance of the 
factor just mentioned, for the effect of the varying 
proportion of secondary school pupils is modified by 
considerations similar to those which modify the effects 
of the limitations of classification considered above. 
All the cities compared have at least some secondary 
school pupils; hence the presence of these pupils affects 
all ratios in the same direction — all the per capitas are 
raised by the presence of secondary schools and none is 
lowered. Moreover, the proportion of secondary school 
pu])ils is, in most cities, relatively small and this fact 
limits the possible effect of variations. 



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